


Aftermath of Bury Your Dead

by gotulloch



Category: NCIS
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-11
Updated: 2014-08-31
Packaged: 2018-01-12 00:35:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 25,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1179807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gotulloch/pseuds/gotulloch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gibbs and Tony have a long talk as a result of events that transpired during Bury Your Dead.  This story does not follow canon and contains some OOC.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Making Things Right

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** I don’t own NCIS or the characters portrayed on television. The story is mine.
> 
> **A/N:** Some of the revelations that are reached happen during the episode are internal so I don’t see the need to “recreate” the entire episode to get my point across. There are spoilers for multiple episodes.

Gibbs stared in horrified disbelief at the plasma screen in MTAC.  He’d just watched DiNozzo and his car get blown to pieces.  His mind was a whirlwind of emotions and thoughts that nearly drove him to his knees.  His friend just died right before his eyes.  He wanted to hit something, someone.  He glared murderously at Jenny who stepped back.  This was all her fault, her and her vendetta against The Frog. 

The Lead Agent took a deep breath, tamping down on his emotions except for anger.  He would deal with his grief once he’d finished his job and caught the bomber.  One thought ran through his mind as he and the rest of his team began to process the scene of DiNozzo’s burned out car.  He would find who was responsible for killing his second and then retire for good.  One of the reasons he’d returned to NCIS was because of his younger friend.  Once his memories began to return, he remembered Tony and his paternal feelings for the younger man.  Now he’d lost his son so soon after grieving for his beloved wife and daughter a second time.  There’s only so much heartache a man can take.

Gibbs had been working at his desk while more recent memories swirled in his head despite his attempts to treat this as just another case so that he could solve it.  His recollections made him wince.  Even though DiNozzo was one of the main reasons he had returned, the Marine hadn’t treated his younger friend very well at all.  Gibbs had returned without telling his team, dumping the now former Team Leader’s things back on his old desk.  To make matters worse, he hadn’t told Tony that he appreciated all the hard work his second had done while the older man got himself back together. 

The Senior Agent mentally replayed McGee and Ziva’s hurtful words and the things he witnessed that pointed to their poor attitude towards DiNozzo and he’d done nothing.  Gibbs closed his eyes when he thought about Mike Franks knocking the young man out and he did nothing to Franks.  He even allowed his old boss to walk after killing a man in cold blood. 

Just where has his head been since he had returned from Mexico?  Before his little sabbatical, the Marine wouldn’t allow _anyone_ to hurt one of his people, especially Tony.  Gibbs snorted.  Who was he kidding?  His head had been up his ass.

He rubbed his forehead when he thought about his unwarranted anger at Tony for keeping his undercover operation a secret.  Looking back, he couldn’t blame the younger agent for not confiding in him.  The silver haired man had been keeping the younger man at arm’s length; he just couldn’t deal with the thought of losing his son like he’d lost his girls.  Stupid, stupid, stupid!  He’d been losing Tony anyway simply by pushing him away and now, he wouldn’t get a chance to make things right.

Gibbs briefly wished he had been sitting down when Ducky told him that the body in autopsy wasn’t DiNozzo’s.  His relief was so great that he’d locked his knees to keep them from buckling.  His next thought was, _if the body wasn’t Tony’s where the hell was he_?

Later in Jenny’s office Gibbs wanted to slap her for the way she treated Tony and the young man’s pain.  Shepard was the reason that DiNozzo had been undercover without proper back up.  She was the reason he was almost killed.  The damn woman was so focused on her vendetta, she’d allowed an undercover agent to get in too deep and get emotionally hurt.  On the other hand, he was proud of Tony and how he’d stood up to Shepard.

Gibbs stood to follow Tony out of Jenny’s office, stopping at the door.  He turned to face a fuming Director.  “Once the reports are done, my team is taking the rest of the week off.”

The Director spluttered angrily.  “You can’t do that Agent Gibbs!  I’m still director here.”

The irate man stormed back, leaning into Jenny’s space to intimidate his old partner.  “Watch me, Madame Director.  You endangered _my_ agent in an undercover operation without proper back up because you’re obsessed!  You’ve crossed the line, Director.  You’re obsession nearly got DiNozzo killed.  Try and use my people in your little games again and your career will be _over_!  Don’t think that I can’t _or_ won’t make it happen.”

“Don’t make me laugh.  You don’t know how to play politics!”

A feral smile danced on the Marine’s lips.  “Have you ever known me to say things I don’t mean or can’t carry out?  Just because I don’t play the political game, doesn’t mean I don’t know how.” 

Gibbs stared at his former lover for another minute before heading for the door.  He paused and continued without looking at her.  “Take us off rotation for the weekend too.”  The agent closed the door firmly behind him, resisting the temptation to slam it shut.  

Gibbs caught up with Tony after his “discussion” with Jenny and invited him over that night.  They needed to talk--Gibbs wasn’t going to waste a second chance to get his son back.  He also wanted to help Tony with the pain he was trying so hard to hide.  Having DiNozzo close by might help keep any nightmares about burned bodies and blown up cars at bay.

*****

Tony stepped out of his car staring at his destination.  He almost didn’t come; his heart was heavy over losing Jeanne.  Remembering the look in Gibbs’ eyes earlier changed his mind.  Those eyes reflected the devastation that the older man felt thinking he was dead.  He’d felt the same way when he thought the Marine had been blown up while helping Ziva.  The young agent knew the Lead Agent cared, even if the man hadn’t been treating him very well lately.  He hoped that the two of them would talk tonight.  He had missed his friend and mentor the last few months.

Looking at Gibbs’ house, the young man was assaulted by memories of talks in the basement, eating cowboy steaks or just watching his friend work on his boat while sorting through his thoughts.  He realized that he hadn’t been here since the Marine returned from Mexico.  Tony walked around to the passenger side of his car to grab the six pack of beer he had picked up on the way.  He decided that coming here had been a good idea; he really didn’t want to be alone.

Tony opened the front door smiling when he smelled one of his favorite foods next to pizza, cowboy steaks.  “Hi, Boss,” he greeted the older man as he entered the living room after removing his shoes.

“DiNozzo.  Steaks are almost done, we need plates,” Gibbs said gruffly. 

Tony headed to the kitchen area to grab plates, utensils and placing all but two of the beers in the fridge, he returned with the needed items.  The steaks and potatoes were eaten in silence.  Neither man wanted to have a heavy conversation while eating. 

Once the meal was eaten and the dishes washed, the two men returned to the living room and sat on the sofa placing their new bottles of beer on the coffee table. 

*****

Gibbs cleared his throat to gain Tony’s attention.  “Seeing your car explode…thinking you…”  The younger man placed a hand on his arm in silent support.  After a moment he continued.  “I did some thinking.  I realized that we haven’t been as close as we were before the explosion and Mexico.  When I woke up, I’d lost nineteen years of my life.  It felt like I was back in the military hospital after finding out Shannon and Kelly had been killed.”  He paused, too distressed to continue. 

If the older man hadn’t been so distressed he would’ve jumped when his companion put an arm around his shoulders.  It was not something that he’d ever seen DiNozzo do for anyone before, let alone him.

Jethro Gibbs had never accepted comfort from anyone for the loss of his girls, but it felt right to accept it from Tony, who was family.  It felt good; it was what he needed even if he couldn’t bring himself to ask for it. 

“Over the next days, I remembered bits and pieces of my life after losing my girls.  I remembered Mike Franks and you mostly.  But I knew my memories and mind weren’t 100%.  When I had to stand and watch that ship blow up despite my best efforts, I lost another piece of myself and had my beliefs go up in smoke.  I couldn’t handle being an agent or staying in D.C.” 

Gibbs pulled back a little, but not enough to dislodge Tony’s arm so he could look the younger man in the face.  “I’m going to break one of my own rules.  I’m sorry, Tony.  I left without telling you why I needed to go.  I’m sorry if you felt abandoned, I didn’t remember enough to realize the impact my leaving like that would have on you.” 

“Boss, you…”

The Marine held up his hand, “I _do_ need to do this Tony.  You earned more than a ‘you’ll do’.  You deserved more from me.  Once we worked together a few months I realized that I had found more than a good agent, I found a good friend.  Before that explosion you had become family, my grown up son.  The explosion did take those memories but I had enough of them to know you’d do an excellent job of leading the team.  You excelled as team leader despite what either Tim or Ziva thought. 

“The way I came back didn’t help you any.  I’m sorry, I know now that I made you feel like all your hard work meant nothing.  I’m a bastard, but what I did then was beyond my normal bastard ways.  I unintentionally enforced McGee’s and Ziva’s idea that you were a bad lead agent.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  I heard some of the things that Ziva and McGee have said since I returned.  I shouldda said something to the two of them for how they acted at the time, but I was still struggling to remember things.  I’m going to say something to them on Monday.  You deserve their respect, you’ve always had mine.”

“Thanks Boss.”  Tony spoke quietly, apparently stunned.  “I—ah always saw you as a mentor, a man to emulate from the beginning.  I don’t know what a real father’s supposed to be like but I think you’d make a great Dad.  K-Kelly was a lucky little girl.  I’m sorry I never got to meet her.”  The younger man looked down after giving Gibbs an unsure glance.

The silver haired man swallowed past the lump in his throat.  “Kelly would’ve loved to have you as a big brother.”    

Tony looked up, eyes wide, clearly surprised.  “Really Boss?” he asked as a bright smile formed.

The silver haired man smiled sadly, “Yeah, really.”

The two men sat quietly for a few moments trying to get their equilibrium back. Neither man was prone to emotional conversations but they had needed it.

Gibbs waited for his young friend to look at him before continuing.  “Tony, I want you to remember that you can always come to me if you need to talk.  I let you down when I found out about the Frog.  I was angry you didn’t tell me.  I didn’t have the right after the way I’ve acted since returning.  You were under orders and the two of us had been off kilter since I returned.  Together, we’re going to make things better.”

The Senior Field Agent smiled looking grateful, “I’d like that Boss.  I’ve missed the man I followed from Baltimore.”

“I’ll deny if anyone else asks, but I missed nights like this.”

The young agent’s smile turned shy.  “Me too.  Maybe we could do this every week when our case load allows?”

The Senior Agent nodded. “I think we could do that.  Come on DiNozzo, I have a boat to work on, we can talk more if you want.”

The two men stood up.  “I’ll grab the beer and meet you down there, Boss.”

Gibbs laid a hand on Tony’s arm to get his attention.  “My friends call me Jethro.”

Staring wide eyed, the younger man answered, “I’ll try, Bo—Jethro.” 

*****

The two men spent their days off hanging out together and reconnecting.  They talked about Gibbs’ leave as Tony insisted they call it instead of his failed attempt at retiring.  Jethro spoke sparingly about Shannon and Kelly; it was still too painful for him to talk about them at length.  In turn, Anthony opened up some about his childhood giving his older friend a better understanding of the attention seeking behavior. 

The Marine vowed to himself that he would be less sparing with praise for his Second and the excellent work the younger man did.  They talked about the difficulties the Senior Field Agent was having with McGee and Ziva.  The Team Lead had _not_ been pleased when he learned that the two junior agents earned a couple of reprimands while he was away; those two could either straighten up or they’d be off his team.  Jen could squawk all she wanted but it _would_ happen.

Gibbs started teaching Tony how to work with wood.  It helped the two men to get closer and they could talk or work quietly depending on their mood.  By the time the two returned to work they were back on an even keel. 

 

**TBC**

 


	2. Preparing for Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gibbs and Tony get ready to set Tim and Ziva on their ears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** I don’t own NCIS or the characters portrayed on television. The story is mine.

Gibbs and DiNozzo arrived at work early on Monday morning.  The Lead Agent pulled a few random records from the cases handled while he was on leave as well as McGee and Ziva’s files.  He needed to see for himself the work that the junior agents did or didn’t do.  The more he read, his anger turned into rage.  It was clear that Tony had done the lion’s share of the work _while_ working undercover.   

Meanwhile, the other two agents did the minimum amount of work they could get away with doing.  His ire continued to grow when he noticed that a few other agents had filed complaints about the duo.   What had Jenny been doing while he was gone?  It became clear that she’d dropped the ball.  He’d deal with Madame Director and find out why she didn’t do anything to support DiNozzo. 

It was time that McGee and David started treating his Senior Field Agent as the outstanding agent Gibbs depended on to get things done.  At the very least, they would respect his Second’s position and the chain of command or they would be off the team.

xxxxxxx 

While Gibbs was reading, Tony was reflecting on the conversation he and Gibbs had about the formal reprimands for McGee and David he was currently filling out for their most recent bout of insubordination.  The older man had been adamant that this be done and he had vowed to back his Senior Field Agent one hundred percent.  The young man had been reluctant at first, not believing that he was worth the effort. 

**_Flashback:_ **

When Tony told Gibbs about his reluctance to fill out reprimands and why; he received a head slap.  The Marine pointed his finger at him saying, “You are worth everything to me, Tony!   If I have to choose between you and those two, I’ll choose you, _every_ time!  I chose you for my team.  I knew you wouldn’t stay in Baltimore and wanted to help you.  Know this--I would have recruited you regardless of what happened with your ex-partner.  You’re better than good enough.” 

The Marine paused for a deep breath.  “I chose you because I wanted to train the agent who’ll replace me when I _do_ retire.  I promoted you to Senior Field Agent even though there were other agents who had more experience than you at the time.  I have _never_ regretted my decision.   You are the best young agent I have _ever_ worked with bar none.” 

The older man placed his hands on Tony’s face surprising him as he continued, “If I didn’t make myself clear this weekend, _you_ are the son I always wanted.  You are responsible for me feeling like I have family again after losing Shannon and Kelly.  You come first.  _Always_!”

The young man swallowed the lump in this throat, his self-worth boosted by his Mentor’s unequivocal support.  “Thanks, Gi…Dad.”  He said with uncertainty.

Gibbs smiled slightly as he stepped back dropping his hands.  “It’s time that McGee and David learn their place on the team.  If they can’t respect you and follow your orders, then they’re off the team.”

“Gottcha, Boss,” Tony replied, smiling.

**_End Flashback_ **

Anthony DiNozzo still felt awesome after spending the weekend with Gibbs and learning the true depth of the older man’s regard.  His own father didn’t have the same faith in his biological son.  Gibbs had been more of a father in the few years they had worked together than Senior had been to Tony his whole life.  The fact that his mentor saw him as a son still blew him away.  He now had the confidence he needed to fill out formal reprimands for the junior agents and know that he would be supported by his friend and boss.  The Italian didn’t feel the need to seek their approval anymore; he had all he needed from the Marine.

xxxxxx

Gibbs looked over at Tony and smiled.  He could see that spending the weekend working out their relationship had been successful.  The silver haired man knew the insecurities that plagued his younger friend weren’t gone; they ran too deep for one weekend to get rid of them completely.  He intended to make sure that this wonderful young man never doubted his place on his team and in his life again.

Gibbs stood up holding a file and his coffee cup drawing Tony’s attention from his work.

“Gonna go see Duck and Abby.  Have McGee and David work on cold cases like we discussed yesterday until I get back.”

The young man looked at him with a mischievous glint in his eye, “I already requested that Dereks in cold cases, send me some of his nastiest cases.  I suggested ones that had incomplete or unorganized notes.”  He quirked an eyebrow silently asking for what else was on the agenda.  His Second smiled wickedly, “Well, they might have some trouble with their computers, and their desks too.  Our computer genius and ninja chick won’t know what hit them.”

The Lead Agent laughed quietly as he headed for the back elevator.  McGee and David were in for a rough time.  It took a lot to make DiNozzo angry but he was vicious when angry, not even the Marine wanted to be on the receiving end of the younger man’s ire.  If those two thought Tony’s harmless pranks were annoying, they were in for a rude awakening. 

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS

Gibbs strode into autopsy. 

“Ah, good morning Jethro.  What can I do for you this morning?”  Ducky asked, smiling.

“Duck.  Need to talk to you.” 

“Certainly Jethro.  Let us head to my office for some privacy.  I would offer you some tea but I see you have your coffee,” the ME observed as he headed to his office.

Once the two men sat down, Gibbs began.  “I’m going to have a talk with McGee and David about their behavior towards DiNozzo.”

The Scot nodded, “Good.  It is about time you put a stop to Timothy and Ziva’s boorish behavior towards Anthony since you went on your sabbatical, or whatever you wish to call your time in Mexico.” 

As the ME prepared to sit at his desk, he paused to look at the other man, “Did you know that they would argue with every order that Anthony gave them even when we were at a crime scene?  They would do the bare minimum of work that he assigned them, leaving our young friend to work twice as hard, and staying late to complete the paperwork for the team.  I know that he placed at least two reprimands in their files but it seems to me that it has not stopped them.” 

The Senior Agent’s eyebrows drew together in anger.  “No, I didn’t know all of that.  I knew about the reprimands for disrespect.  I also know about the reports, I can tell who wrote them based on the writing style.  I didn’t know about the arguing.”  He sighed in frustration.  “Tony doesn’t think he’s worth the effort of defending.  I’m going to change that if I can.  I need to talk to Abby.”  Gibbs finished as he stood up.

 “Good luck, Jethro.”

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS

Gibbs strode into Abby’s lab, grimacing a little at her loud music.  He grabbed the remote to her stereo turning it off.

“Hey!”  Abby turned, looking outraged.  Instead of snapping she hugged him saying rapidly, “Gibbs!  What are you doing here?  Where’s my Caff Pow?  You don’t have a case.  Something’s wrong.  What’s wrong?  Is someone hurt?  What…?” 

“Abs!”  She closed her mouth with an audible snap.  “Everyone is fine.  Just need to tell you that I’m gonna talk to McGee and Ziva about their attitude towards DiNozzo for the last six months.  I’ve let them disrespect him too long.”  He watched a look of guilt cross the Goth’s face before she looked down. “I heard that your behavior towards DiNozzo wasn’t much better than theirs, all because he was ‘not Gibbs’.  I recall some sort of shrine you had here for me.  Did you even think about how that would make Tony feel?  Or do you even care?”

Abby bit her lip before shaking her head no.  “I didn’t treat him right.  I just missed you and he was trying to take your place.”

“Abby, DiNozzo was given the team because I wanted him to lead and take care of all of you when I couldn’t.  He was trying to find his own way after having the team thrust at him unexpectedly.  He may have stumbled in the beginning but he found his own way of leading the team and did a great job, just as I knew he would.  And that was despite the problems that _all_ of you gave him.  I thought he was your friend.  Why did you turn your back on him?  Didn’t ya think that he missed me too?”

The Goth wiped a tear from her eye.  “Tony didn’t act like he missed you.  He just took over and pushed us to get back to work.”  She was definitely stubborn. 

Gibbs looked at Abby with disappointment.  “He did exactly what I trained him to do.  He did his job; he took care of you, Ducky, McGee and David.  What did he get in return?  Who took care of him?  I’m very disappointed in you, Abby.  You’re not a child, but you’re sure acting like one.”  With that, he left Abby to think about what he said.  She needed to grow up and realize that the world didn’t revolve around her.

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS

Meanwhile, McGee and Ziva had arrived in the bullpen.

“Morning, Tony,” Tim greeted as he walked by his desk heading for his own.

“Good morning, Tony.  Where is Gibbs?  Is he in MTAC?”  Ziva asked as she rounded the corner to her desk.

DiNozzo looked up from his work.  “Morning, McGee, Ziva.  Gibbs went to see Ducky and get some coffee.  He wants you working on cold cases.”  The Senior Field Agent pointed to the box on the spare desk in their area.  “There are plenty in there for you.  Take your pick.”

The younger agent looked up to see Ziva David looking at Tony crossly.  “Why do we have to work on cold cases?  You are not.  I bet you are playing a game on your computer and leaving the real work to us.”

McGee looked to see if she was right.  He could see that the Senior Field Agent _was_ working.  “Tony’s doing paperwork, Ziva.  I can see the form on his computer.”  The Junior Agent knew deep down that Tony _did_ do work despite appearances.  That didn’t mean he thought the other man should be Senior Field Agent or Gibbs’ Second in Command.  DiNozzo didn’t have the education for it; he was just a jock who became an agent.  These thoughts ran through Tim’s head as he got up and grabbed a couple of cold cases to work on while his computer warmed up.  He didn’t want to incur Gibbs’ wrath; he preferred living and keeping all of his limbs to the alternative.

McGee stopped in his tracks, shocked at Tony’s icy tone as he responded to Ziva’s snide remark.  “I didn’t ask your opinion, Zee-va.  Gibbs wants you to work on cold cases.  I have other work to do.  I suggest you get to work, you wouldn’t want the Boss to arrive and see you doing nothing.”  DiNozzo turned back to his work, clearly dismissing the Israeli woman.

The younger man cringed when she answered haughtily, “You are not the boss.  I only take orders from Gibbs.”

 

**TBC**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're still enjoying the story!


	3. Raking Them Over the Coals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's find out what Gibbs has to say!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** I don’t own NCIS or the characters portrayed on television. The story is mine.
> 
> **A/N:** Betaed by the wonderful ncismom. Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, and put this story on their favorite and/or follow list.   
>  Thank you to all who have read, commented and left kudos.  
> I hope you continue to enjoy the story.

Gibbs had been about to enter his area of the bullpen when he heard them talking and whathe heard infuriated him. Rounding the corner the Lead Agent spoke angrily, “Is that so, David?” He watched her jump with satisfaction as hestopped in front of her desk to glare at her.

Ziva looked flustered as she tried to respond. “Gibbs…I”

“Save it. You and McGee, join me in conference room one.” The furious man stepped towards Tony’s desk, holding out his hand. The younger man handed him the reprimands which were added to the folder he was carrying. Gibbs looked in his Second’s eyes wanting to know the state of mind of his friend. The slight smile he received allowed him to relax slightly. The Marine thenspun on his heel knowing the two agents would follow.

Gibbs could hear them scrambling to follow him. His ire grew when he heard David say, “Are you not coming, Tony?”

The irate Agent paused to speak to her, but DiNozzo beat him to it. “Did you hear Gibbs ask for me?” The younger man went back to work, clearly dismissing the Liaison Officer.

McGee turned to Ziva, obviously understanding that they were in serious trouble. “Let’s go, Ziva,” the younger man hissed. “Gibbs is already pissed. Do you want to make it worse?”

She huffed but continued towards the conference room.

Standing just inside the door of the conference room, Gibbs stared hard at the Israeli as she entered, forcing her to avert her eyes.

The Marine indicated for them to sit in the two chairs across from him. He opened the folder he was carrying while waiting for his two agents to comply. Looking up at the two miscreants sitting in front of him, he placed some of the papers he’d collected in front of them. “Explain these.”

The two looked down to see the reprimands Tony had filed while he was team lead.

Ziva scoffed, waving her hand dismissively at the reprimands. “Tony was on a power outing while you were gone. He thought that he was in charge. We made sure he understood the error of his ways.”

Gibbs stared at her with contempt, purposefully making heruncomfortable before speaking. “DiNozzo wasn’t on a _power_ _trip_. He was doing his job as my _Second in Command._ He was in charge until I returned. If I had decided to retire for good, his promotion would have been permanent. Apparently, it was a mistake to think you learned about the chain of command at Mossad David. What about you McGee? Do you need a refresher course at FLETC on the chain of command?”

The junior agent shook his head refusing to meet the Team Leader’s eyes.

Officer David didn’t seem to realize the trouble she was really in as she answered scornfully. “I did learn the chain of command. But there is no way that Tony is my superior. He is the team’s clownrelief. Tony is not a proper agent. I do not understand how he is still…”

xxxxx

McGee really wanted to crawl under the table as he listened to Ziva. He decided that she must be suicidal. Listening as the Liaison Officer made Tony sound like a complete imbecile made him wonder why he’d followed her lead. Tony DiNozzo may act like an idiot but you didn’t stay on Gibbs’ team if you actually were a moron.

When she’d misused the idiom comic relief he’d automatically opened his mouth to correct her but shut it just as quickly. Ziva David might be willing to incur the wrath of Gibbs. On the other hand, he knew they were in trouble and was smart enough to keep his mouth shut.

Gibbs slammed his hand on the table, shutting the woman up and derailing McGee’s train of thought. “DiNozzo’s the best agent I’ve ever worked with and he is by far a better agent than you could ever be David! Do you really believe that I would keep _anyone_ on my team that can’t do the work to my satisfaction? You’d have to ask records how many agents I went through before hiring DiNozzo.” Tim McGee squirmed when the older man’s intense stare was turned on him. “You have anything to say McGee?”

The agentshook his head as he stuttered, “N-no Boss.”

Tim looked blankly at the new set of papers Gibbs placed in front of him and Ziva. “These reprimands are for your continued disrespect towards my Senior Field Agent. It’s on me that I allowed your behavior to continue. It stops _now_.” Gibbs stood up,putting his folder back together before striding towards the door.

The Marine’s voice knocked the Junior Agent out of his stupor.

“You both should look up the requirements for becoming a Senior Field Agent, you might learn something. DiNozzo is my Senior Field Agent and Second in Command. You _will_ show him respect for those positions even if you think he’s the ‘comic relief’. If you can’t, thenyou don’t respect me. _I_ chose DiNozzo for my team. I did _not_ choose you David. _I_ promoted him when we were both ready. There are _always_ agents wanting the job but I didn’t want them, I had who I wanted for the position. I trust him to do the job right. If you continue to disrespect DiNozzo I’ll kick you off my team. And David? You ever disobey an order from DiNozzo again or speak to him the way you did earlier, I’ll put my boot so far up your ass you’ll be spitting dirt out of your mouth!” Gibbs left, closing the door firmly behind him.

McGee slumped in his seat thinking that the Marine had never come down on him like that before, not even when he had accidently sent him to the house full of women.

Ziva spoke angrily, “I do not believe this! We will have to follow orders from Tony. He is so unprofessional; I still do not understand how he became an agent.”

Tim stared at the woman next to him, seeing her clearly for the first time. He was ashamed that he’d followed her lead and acted like a petulant child instead of a Federal Agent. Listening to Gibbs and thinking about that time made the Junior Agent realize that was exactly how he’d behaved.

Tony DiNozzo may have teased him but he was _always_ there for Tim when he needed help, an ear to listen, or to teach him what was needed to do the job. How could he have forgotten what Tony had donefor him?

He stood abruptly. “Shut up, Ziva. Tony is a good agent and has been a good friend. I’ve been stupid, treating him like he’s an idiot. I forgot that Gibbs doesn’t suffer fools. You can continue to treat Tony badly and lose your place on the team if you want, but don’t try and drag me down with you anymore.” Itfelt good to stand up for himself and do what was right.

xxxxx

After leaving the conference room,Gibbs headed to Jenny’s office. He was pissed that she didn’t do her job and back Tony up during his tenure as Lead Agent. He strode past Jenny’s assistant, straight into her office.

“What can I do for you,Jethro?” Director Shepard asked as she took off her glasses.

“You told me that DiNozzo did an excellent job as Team Leader while I was in Mexico. You told me that I should tell him that and thank him for his hard work.” He raised an eyebrow in question.

She nodded, foreheadscrunched in obvious puzzlement.

The Marine pulled out the reprimands and tossed them in front of his former probie.   “Then maybe you can explain why you did nothing about these reprimands filed by DiNozzo against McGee and David?”

Shepard stared at him with wide eyes before responding. “I didn’t feel that they were that serious. The team needed time to adjust and they did, their closure rate remained almost as high as it was before you left. Actually, the closure rate for the MCRT only dropped by one percent.”

Heleaned over her desk so that his eyes were level with hers. “You didn’t investigate the reprimands at all or you would have discovered that DiNozzo was completing _all_ of the paperwork. _All of it!_ He didn’t feel comfortable giving McGee the Senior Field Agent paperwork because he knew he’d end up doing it himself anyway. This was on top of fulfilling _your_ undercover operation. You’re lack of action gave those two the guts to argue with _every_ order DiNozzo gave them, no matter where they were!”

“That’s not possible. The closure rates would’ve dropped more than it did.”

He slammed his right hand on her desk in anger. “They didn’t drop much because DiNozzo is _that_ good. If you’d done your damn job, instead of chasing the Frog, the closure rates wouldn’t have dropped at all! You’re so obsessed with The Frog that you allowed blatant disrespect and two people to believe they could do whatever they wanted! You’re damn lucky nothing happened to DiNozzo because of your negligence. No one would find the body!” He stood to his full height. “If I even suspect you’re still not doing your job, I’ll go to SecNav and let him know what you’ve been doing with NCIS resources.”

She jumped to her feet replying angrily, “You can’t do that Jethro! I’ll remind you of your hunt for Ari…”

Gibbs interrupted her barely keeping a lid on his temper, “How _dare_ you compare the two! Ari infiltrated NCIS; shot Ducky’s assistant he then _killed_ one of my people! I was driven to get him but I still _did my damn job_! I still investigated crimes, closed cases. _You_ dropped the ball and allowed two agents to disrespect their superior because you were more interested in your personal vendetta. You ignored your responsibilities to NCIS to hunt the Frog! I wonder who else suffered because of your obsession! You broke rule number eight, trust but verify. You didn’t verify. Never again. I’ve already spoken to McGee and David because they’ve continued their disrespect since I’ve returned and that’s on me for letting it continue. One more incident and I’ll kick the guilty agent off my team. Even David.” He stormed out of Jenny’s office slamming the door.

xxxxxx

Jenny sat back down before her legs could give out on her. She’d forgotten how intimidating Gibbs could be when he was pissed. Once the shaking stopped, she picked up the reprimands and read them thoroughly like she should have the first time instead of just skimming them. Damn, she really did drop the ball and had allowed numerous accounts of inappropriate behavior to continue. All because she _was_ too busy trying to catch The Frog. The Director couldn’t get the look in Jethro’s eyes out of her mind. They condemned her for her actions and lack of concern she’d given to the agents in her care.

Shepard dropped her head into her hands as the fog of vengeance finally lifted. What had she done? She could have gotten one of her agents killed because of her fixation on avenging her father’s death.  

Her father would be very disappointed in his daughter’s behavior. She had allowed her obsession to come before her duty to NCIS and its agents. He would have never wanted an innocent killed on his account. It was bad enough that she was responsible for hurting Tony and Jeanne Benoit emotionally. Jenny sat up straight. It was time to be a good Director for NCIS and try to make up for her mistakes. It is truly what her father would have wanted. And maybe, she had a chance to earn Gibbs’ respect again.

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Meanwhile, Tony was working his way through a Team Gibbs’ cold case from just before he started. This was the first time he’d had the opportunity to really look at it. He was also surreptitiously watching the junior agents for their reactions to his little surprises.

McGee had returned from the conference room first and headed straight for him. “Tony, I owe you an apology. I’ve been an arrogant ass. I hope you can forgive me.”

The Senior Agent sat back studying his probie. The younger man was sincere. “I can, in time. Just remember, I may mess around but I will always have your six in the field.”

“I will Tony. I’ll watch your six better than I have been, I promise.”

The two men settled in to work as Ziva returned to the bullpen. She went straight to the pile of cold cases grabbing two of them and returning to her desk glowering all the way.

DiNozzo had not expected her to apologize; that would mean admitting she was wrong and the Mossad officer was too sure of her abilities to believe she could be wrong about him. He shrugged inwardly. Shewouldn’t last long on the team. It might be for the best this way; he wasn’t sure he trusted her anymore.

Tony hid a smile when he heard the other two begin grumbling about the cases they had being a mess, incomplete and illegible handwriting to name a few of the problems they were encountering. Dereks had really come through for him. He’d have to remember to send the man a few new flies for his annual fly fishing trip.

Gibbs returned his expression reminiscent of a dark thunder cloud right before lightening strikes. TheSenior Field Agent hoped the computer troubles he’d set up for the two miscreants didn’t set the man off, even if he knew they were coming.

Tony was about to find out how the Marine was going to react when David’s computer started playing Baha Men’s song, _Who Let the Dogs Out_ , except it sounded like the Chipmunks were singing it. He watched as Ziva glared at her computer before hitting several keys. Whenthat didn’t work, she started shaking the monitor,which really hadn’t been a good idea. The computer changed the song to _Wannabe_ by the Spice Girls.

“David, shut that thing off if you can’t get it to stop!” the Lead Agent barked at her before looking at him and winking.

DiNozzo nearly sagged in relief as he returned his attention to the file in front of him. He wasn’t going to get head slapped for his antics.

The Spice Girls stopped singing before the computer was shut off,although Ziva would be plagued by many different annoyances throughout the day.

Next was McGee’s turn to be embarrassed. He watched the junior agent out of the corner of his eye and smiled internally when the younger man jumped when his computer roared at him.

McGee blinked at his computer uncomprehendingly as it began playing _Walk the Dinosaur_ by Was(Not Was).

“You may want to fix that Probie before Gibbs blows a gasket.” Tony took pity on the younger agent. He hadn’t made his revenge on Tim too severe believing that he would pull his head out off his ass long before Zivaever would.

xxxxxx

By the end of the day McGee vowed to never get on Anthony DiNozzo’s bad side again. The cold case files had been bad enough but the antics that Ziva’s computer went through on and off during the day made him realize that Tony wasn’t as computer illiterate as he pretended to be. As he left for the day, he decided he preferred being super glued to his keyboard. That was annoying but quickly solved. Having your computer start playing songs like _Barbie Girl, Bye, Bye, Bye,_ and other such annoying songs at random times during the day. The killer was that the songs would stop playing just before she could turn the computer off. She tried shutting down the computer and restarting it, that had been a mistake. Once the computer was up and running again a tinny voice said, “What did you do that for? Now I’ve lost my place and I’ll have to start from the beginning again.” And that’s exactly what happened, the first song that played was _Who Let the Dogs Out?_ and so on. Nope, he wasnever, ever going to piss off DiNozzo again.

 

**TBC**

A/N: I found these songs on Rolling Stones list of “The 20 Most Annoying Songs” from 2007. I actually like some of the songs but they can be annoying in certain circumstances. LOL


	4. The Case

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new case, a new problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own NCIS or the characters portrayed on television. The story is mine.  
> A/N: Thank you to my wonderful beta ncismom.  
> Another thank you to all those who have read, commented, bookmarked and follow this story. You guys are da bomb! LOL

If McGee and David thought that what Tony had done to them on the day that Gibbs laid down the law about their behavior was bad, they quickly discovered that it was just the beginning. The next two weeks were a clear demonstration to everyone in the bullpen why it was not a good idea to piss off Anthony DiNozzo.

The random playing of annoying music was just the beginning. The computers would shut down for no apparent reason, orthey would start beeping and nothing would stop the noise. One day, Ziva found all of her desk drawers had beensaran wrapped; she had also found all of her paperclips looped together in a chain, super glued so that she couldn’t break up the chain. Tim’s computer was infected with a virus that caused a cartoon “Elf Lord” to pop up randomly, taking him and the IT guys two hours to clear it off the computer. Every time they thought they had it eradicated, the virus would come back.

All of this provided a great deal of amusement to the rest of the agents in the bullpen. They decided to help by humming or singing the annoying songs whenever Ziva or Tim passed them either in the halls or the bullpen area.

The pranks were bad but the paperwork was worse.

xxxxxx

Ziva found out that she hadn’t been filling out the paperwork correctly when Tony placed a stack on her desk and said, “I’ve marked all of the mistakes that you’ve made on this paperwork. You need to do it over and make the corrections. I won’t be doing it for you anymore. If you have a problem with this, see Gibbs.”

She blinked a couple of times before standing up to angrily reply. “There is nothing wrong with the way _I_ fill out the paperwork. _You_ are trying to get me in trouble!”

Gibbs interrupted her tirade. “I asked DiNozzo to hand me your paperwork without making any corrections to it. I’ve recently become aware of the factthat he has been fixing it for you to meet my demands. That stops now. DiNozzo has orders to pass back any paperwork that needs correcting. If you don’t fix it the first time he gives it to you than he will give it to me as is. If he has to do this, I will place a reprimand in your file for failing to complete your work, and for insubordination. Two of those will see you kicked off this team.”

David stared at him in shock. This could not be happening. She had not really believed that the Lead Agent had been serious about needing to respect Tony. He probably made up the mistakes on her paperwork just to get her in trouble. She would show both men that she was the better agent.

xxxxxx

Tony had dumped a stack of paperwork on McGee’s desk one day and said, “Since you think you should be the Senior Field Agent, here’s the paperwork that needs to be done by the end of the week. Good luck and don’t ask me any questions; ask Gibbs.”

After looking through the stack of papers, McGee did as Gibbs suggested and looked up the requirements for a Senior Field Agent, discovering that the position required a Master’s Degree and at least four years experience in law enforcement as an investigator*. Tony had a higher education and ten or so years of experience in law enforcementand at least five of them had been at NCIS. It would be sometime before he could become a Senior Field Agent since he would need to get a Master’s Degree.

Tim did more research and discovered that his Master’s degree was in criminology. It shouldn’t have mattered what kind of education the older agent had; he was the most senior agent after Gibbs on the team.

DiNozzo may have mocked him, bestowed him with silly nicknames, but when he needed someone, Tony had been there. When had he become so arrogant that he looked down on a man who had been like a big brother to him? McGee figured that it started with the publication of his books and the success and praise he received for writing them. Ziva’s disdain for Tony added fuel to the fire. Taking a long hard look at the person he was now compared to the one who started at NCIS, McGee didn’t like the ass he’d become. So he tore down the pomposity and let the eager to learn agent out of his self made prison of self-importance. Losing the haughtiness was helped along by the pranks Tony played using computers; the older man was not the computer novice he portrayed by any means.

Timothy apologized to both Senior Agents for his poor behavior. He also worked on improving his attitude so that it was natural to follow Tony’s lead. He must have been judged as being sincere because the pranks directed at him stopped after the virus.

xxxxxx

Ziva refused to believe she was wrong about Tony and was resentful that she would have to obey him. She found the pranks to be evidence of his childishness instead of a form of punishment. Unlike McGee, she did not check the requirements for Senior Field Agent; itwas not necessary in her mind.

Officer David wanted to stay with Gibbs’ Team at NCIS, so she tried to hide her attitude by playing the role of a good little Mossad Officer,butunderneath the façade, Ziva seethed and plotted. She was looking for proof that DiNozzo was incompetent and should be kicked out of NCIS. David did not understand why she had been unable to find anything so far, but she would keep looking.

xxxxxx

Gibbs and DiNozzo had been pleased with the return of the McGee that both men hadliked and admired. On the other hand, they were disappointed, but not surprised, with Ziva’s lack of attitude adjustment.

They talked about removing her from the team. The two men were concerned that she couldn’t be trusted to back Tony up in the field if Gibbs wasn’t present to keep her in line. She had to go. The issue came to a head sooner than either man thought it would when the Lead Agent had been shot in the shoulder during their last case and had to wear a sling and was placed on desk duty until Ducky was satisfied the wound was healed.

Gibbs sat at his desk pulling out the paperwork to request Ziva David be transferred to another team when his phone rang before he could even put her name on the first page.

“Yeah, Gibbs.” The agent grabbed his pad and recorded the information, growing increasingly angry as he listened to the voice on the other end. “DiNozzo!” he barked as he slammed the phone down.

“Yes, Boss!” The younger agent jumped up and rushed to his desk.

“Two dead marines found on the shore of the Potomac just south of Quantico.” The Senior Agent held out the information for his Second, frustrated because he couldn’t go. He really didn’t want Ziva part of the investigation but with him on desk duty there was no choice.

DiNozzo frowned as he took the note looking him straight in the eye. The older man conveyed with a look that Ziva’s transfer would have to wait, this case was more important. The Senior Field Agent tipped his head slightly, acknowledging that the message had been received. “On it Boss!” Turning he gave orders, “Grab your gear! McGee, gas the truck. Ziva, call Ducky and tell him I’ll send directions to Palmer. Let’s hope he doesn’t get lost.”

Under other circumstances the older man might have smiled, but two dead marines ended any humor for him. He made sure to catch Ziva’s eye glaring at her. “Do your job, David.”

The Liaison Officer nodded with obvious reluctance before heading for the elevator.

“If you have problems, call Patterson or Balboa, DiNozzo.”

Tony smiled slightly. “Gotcha Boss. I’ll call when I have their names. Abby can start looking up their information, save us some time.”

Gibbs nodded. He could do some of the research, but it would be faster for the Goth to do it since his left arm was still in a sling.

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Tony arrived in his agency sedan and didn’t see the truck yet. Gibbs must be rubbing off on him. Of course, he’d given the keys to McGee; he wanted the younger man to get here in one piece. Once he parked, he put on his NCIS cap, grabbed his notebook, and got out of the car. The Senior Field Agent looked around, taking in the two cruisers and the four military vehicles. He looked for and found the highest rankingMarine and headed straight for him.

DiNozzo looked at the Marine’s name tag and introduced himself. “I’m Special Agent DiNozzo from NCIS, Major Schaffer. Were they your men?”

The Major reached out to shake Tony’s hand. “Yes they were. The one on the right is Gunnery Sergeant Harris and the other is Gunnery Sergeant Peters. They were good men. Both men worked in TBS*. Harris was in charge of rifle/pistol qualification and Peters was one of our best combat hunter instructors. I want whoever killed my men caught and strung up, Agent DiNozzo. I’ll make sure that you get all the cooperation you need.”

“I’m sorry for your loss, Major. You can be sure that we’ll do our best. My boss is a retired Gunnery Sergeant and drives us hard to solve all our cases, but cases involving Marines makes us work even harder.”

Schaffer tilted his head before asking, “Your boss wouldn’t be Gunny Gibbs would he?”

The Agent realized that the Major was probably about the same age as Gibbs. “Yep. Did you serve with him?”

Nodding, the officer answered, “Desert Storm. Good man, Gibbs. Why isn’t he here?”

“He was shot in the shoulder during our last case and his arm’s still in a sling. He’s on desk duty for the next week, otherwise he’d be here barking orders and demanding answers.” Tony noticed the NCIS truck pulling up,so hepulled out a card, wrote Gibbs number on it and handed it to the Major. “Here’s his phone number if you want to talk to him. It will help us if you can have the names of other personnel they worked with, and any problem recruit’s files ready for us when we check out their offices at Quantico. We’ll also need to be able to talk to as many of the people I mentioned as possible at Quantico. Actually, if you could send the information on the men, and the others to Gibbs, he can start digging up information while we work here or at Quantico.”

Major Schaffer took the card, nodding. “Efficient. Gibbs taught you well, Agent DiNozzo. I’ll call TBS to have the information you requested taken care of and have a room set up for you to use.”

“Thank you, Major.” The men parted ways.

Ducky and Palmer were just pulling up when DiNozzo reached the truck. “The victims are Gunnery Sergeants Harris and Peters. Major Schaffer is gonna have their information ready for us at Quantico and sent to Gibbs. The bodies are over there.” Tony pointed towards part of the shore that couldn’tbe seen from the road.   “Hey Duck, when you get a look at the bodies, can you try and confirm whether they were killed here or not? I could see that they had been beaten, but I didn’t see any blood as I walked by the scene.”

“I will be sure to let you know what I find. Come Mr. Palmer, we have work to do,” the ME spoke genially as he headed for his patients.

“I’ll just need to get the bags ready, Dr. Mallard.” Jimmy headed to the back of the truck.

DiNozzo focused on his teammates. “McGee, sketch and photos. David, bag and tag.”

He turned to leave when Ziva’s snarky voice stopped him. “And what will you be doing while we do all the work?”

The Senior Agent turned back briefly to reply, “Do your job David and don’t worry about what others are doing.” He resumed heading for the LEOs to question the witness who found the bodies.

DiNozzo smirked when he heard his Probie snap at the Mossad Officer, “Knock it off, Ziva. You do know that Gibbs is ready to kick you off the team, don’t you?”

The smirk died and he shook his head at her answer. “He will not do that to me. I am far too valuable to this team.” Damn the timing of this case. He was really worried now. Maybe he could convince Gibbs to get a TAD or maybe they could borrow an agent from Patterson’s or Balboa’s team.

Once the team was finished with the scene he gave further instructions. “David, take the evidence back and log it in. McGee, you’re with me. We have people to question and computers to dig through.”

“Okay, Tony,” McGee answered as he secured the camera equipment.

Ziva stepped in front of the sedan door stopping him from opening it. “Why don’t you take the evidence back and let McGee and I do the important work?”

DiNozzo saw McGee stop what he was doing and stare at the Liaison officer in disbelief. “The senior agent is in charge of initial questioning*. That is policy, Officer David. _You_ are not an agent and McGee is a junior agent. Since Gibbs is desk bound, _I_ am the senior agent. I won’t allow an investigation to be compromised because you don’t like the assignment you’ve been given. This is the second time that I’ve had to tell you to do your damn job, David.”

He glared at her until she moved out of the way with obvious reluctance, returning his glare and headed for the truck grumbling in Hebrew. “I really don’t think that’s anatomically possible, but it is creative. I have a gift with learning languages or didn’t your profile tell you that?” He smirked at her shocked expression as he climbed into the car.

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Gibbs phone rang. “Yeah, Gibbs.”

_“Boss, McGee and I are headed to Quantico to question some people. I spoke with their CO, Major Schaffer.”_

The Lead Agent interrupted his second. “Jack Schaffer?”

_“The one and the same Boss. I gave him your number so he could contact you. He’s going to make sure that we get all the cooperation we need. He said the two victims were good men. You should also be receiving information on the victims, other instructors, anyone else they worked with regularly and any problem officer recruits. They were instructors at TBS.” Tony sighed before continuing, “Boss, there was trouble with Ziva.”_

Irritated the Marine asked, “What kind of trouble?”

_“Well, she wanted to know what I was doing while she was bagging and tagging and McGee was on photos and sketches. Then she wanted me to take the truck back to the Yard so that she could do the important work with McGenius.”_

“I’ll take care of it. Don’t bother calling again unless you have something important. The two of you can do your jobs without me looking over your shoulders.” He snapped the phone shut before his friend could answer though he could picture a surprised but pleased look on the younger man’s face.

Over an hour after he hung up the phone, Gibbs was looking over the information that he’d received on the dead marines. He’d sent the names to Abby, asking her to do a quick background check on the victims. The preliminary information he had on their records was exemplary. Just as he was closing the file on Peters, Ziva entered the bullpen. He looked at her, noting the anger and frustration clearly displayed on her face. Why was she in the bullpen already? The evidence should have taken at least a half an hour to log in and the drive from Quantico was about three quarters of an hour, even for him*. “Is the evidence all logged in, Ziva?”

The Mossad Officer shrugged as she sat behind her desk. “Tony can do it when he gets here. It should be his job, not mine.”

The Senior Agent was ready to strangle the woman. He asked in a very dangerous voice, “Are you telling me that you have broken the chain of evidence by leaving it unattended, Da-veed?”

“I asked one of the guards to stay with the truck. The evidence is fine.”

The Marine stood up and walked around until he was standing in front of her desk. Glaring at her he said, “You were told to log in the evidence by the Senior Field Agent, Officer David. You will go back to the truck and do the job you were given.”

“I do not understand why Tony cannot do it. My time would be better used in helping you with the investigation,” the woman responded, her body language displaying irritation.

“We don’t need to explain ourselves to you, David. Now do as you’re _told_!” He headed for the Director’s office with a long angry stride. Gibbs paused on the steps when he realized she was still sitting at her desk. “ _David!_ ” Ziva jumped looking up at him. “Move your ass!”

As the agent watched her, his ire grew as she walked towards the elevator with reluctance. Once the elevator doors closed he continued on his way. Damn. He wanted her off the team now, but he’d learned earlier that there weren’t any TAD’s available to take her place for at least a week. If they didn’t have this case, she’d be gone. At this rate, he would do it anyway even if it made the team a man short.

The Lead Agent barely kept himself from storming into Director Shepard’s office. His former partner looked up as he approached the desk. “When this case is over, David is off the team.”

“What happened?” Shepard asked.

So he told her about what had happened so far that day, trying to remain calm, but he was still furious over David’s attitude. She would get someone killed with her arrogance and lack of respect. Gibbs also made it clear that _he_ would be choosing a replacement.

xxxxx

Jen sighed heavily when the Senior Agent had finished. She had heard the rumors that Ziva was still causing problems. How could an officer in Mossad ignore the chain of command? Well it didn’t matter. Gibbs was right; he didn’t need someone who displayed such disrespect for a fine agent like DiNozzo. She had hoped that Ziva would have cleaned up her act after being dressed down by Gibbs. She was certainly doing her own job better since she’d been chewed out.

“You’ve made your point, Jethro. I’ll take your team off rotation so that once this case is closed andyou can begin looking for a replacement.” She watched as her former partner left her office without acknowledging her response. Now she had a difficult call to make. Eli David would not be please with his daughter’s behavior.

 

**TBC**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * TBS is the The Basic School where all newly commissioned Marine Corp officers are sent to learn the art and science of being an officer of the Marines. Information found at Wikipedia.  
> * I have no idea if this is fact but I chose to use it for my story.  
> * I have no idea how long it takes to drive from Quantico to the NCIS offices so I guessed. If I’m wrong, I’ll be happy to correct it.


	5. The Investigation Continues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We learn more about our victims and Ziva learns about real ..... What, I'm not gong to spoil it for you!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own NCIS or the characters portrayed on television. The story is mine.
> 
>  **A/N:** Sorry about the delay. Real life can head slap you when you least expect it.  
>  **A/N2:** I couldn’t do this so well without my wonderful beta ncismom!

Gibbs was sitting at his desk reviewing more information that had been sent to him via Abby from McGee. He was not happy with Ziva’s behavior. Currently she was sitting at her desk slamming things around and grumbling. It was obvious thatshe resented being sent back with the evidence then forced to log it in while the other two got to stay and do the “important” work. The Lead Agent figured it was because she had been forced to obey Tony’s orders.

Frankly he didn’t care anymore. The only reason she was still around was because he was on desk duty and NCIS rules now stated that there had to be at least three able bodied people on a team to handle an active case. It went against the grain to pass on a case involving marines to another team, no matter how competent the team. Besides, he liked to finish what he started, or at least have his team finish it.

DiNozzo and McGee finally returned to headquarters. The two men entered the bullpen and dropped their bags at their desks. The younger agent started right in on his computer while his Second approached him to report.

“What d’ya got DiNozzo?”

The younger man straightened as he replied, “We haven’t found where the men were killed yet. The victims were single and lived on base. Their quarters didn’t react to luminal. However, each man was robbed. Harris appears to be missing some rifles and Peters is missing something or several things from a display case. I won’t know exactly what’s missing until I can get Harris’ list of registered weapons and Peters’ insurance papers.”

“As for the men themselves, everyone we spoke to at the school said that Harris and Peters were good men and good trainers. We do have some names and files of disgruntled former students. Most were kicked out of TBS because they didn’t make the grade and blamed it on the instructors.” Tony nodded over his shoulder towards the younger agent. “McGee discovered some malicious emails sent to both men that he needs to trace.”

The Lead Agent nodded, satisfied for the moment. “Good job DiNozzo, McGee. Send Ziva and me a couple of the files and we’ll help you go through them.” He hated not being in the thick of an investigation, especially when it involved Marines. This was not a reflection on the quality of work that his two male agents put into an investigation; he was a man of action,not a paper pusher.

“On it Boss!”

Over an hour of reading and research later Gibbs looked up when DiNozzo’s phone rang. “Very Special Agent DiNozzo….Hey Duck….Be right down.” The younger man looked up as he hung up his phone. “Ducky has something for us.” The two men stood together heading for the elevator. His second paused by Ziva’s cubicle after looking at his watch. “Hey Probie, I’ll do a lunch run. Anything in particular you want?” He asked.

McGee looked up smiling, “We haven’t had Chinese in awhile. Can you get my usual please?”

A bright smile lit up DiNozzo’s face, “Sounds good McNoodle. You can get your own lunch Ziva.” The Senior Agent hid a smirk at the expression on the Liaison Officer’s face. She still hadn’t figured out that it was not wise to cross Anthony DiNozzo; he couldbe vicious in totally unexpected ways.

xxxxx

Tim McGee watched the two older men leave thinking that he was glad he’d gotten his head out of his ass. Tony’s pranks were harmless but it didn’t take much thought to realize that the other man could make someone’s life miserable. Ziva continued to be a victim of numerous pranks since Gibbs had reamed the two of them out. What had really shocked him was when Ziva’s ringtones were changed. How did Tony get a hold of her phone? A couple of the ringtones made him laugh to himself, _Couch Potato_ , and _Another One Rides the Bus_ both by Weird Al Yankovic. He was brought out of his thoughts by the Israeli’s angry diatribe.

“I cannot understand how Gibbs does not see that Tony is just so pathetic and childish.” She did not get to say more when her computer started to act up. First it started with a high pitched beeping, and then it started a long drawn out whining sound.

Tim watched as the woman began hitting different keys trying to stop the noise but each key she hit emitted a different high pitched tone. He didn’t know what key she hit but the next thing he knew her computer was playing _White and Nerdy_ another song by Weird Al. Now the Mossad officer was angrily shaking the monitor and cursing or so he thought since she was speaking angrily in Hebrew. Her shaking the monitor resulted in the computer screeching “Hands off! I’m not some dumb machine. I have feelings!” which caused David to sit back and stare at her monitor.

His cell phone beeped; he had a text message from the prankster himself.

_Duck and watch around your desk!_

McGee’s eyes widened before he “dropped” his pen and bent to pick it up. He peeked around his desk with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. There was a pop and Ziva was being covered in what looked like silly string. Before the woman could really react there several loud bangs from behind her blowing a combination of shredded paper and confetti in the air. Soon she was covered in it and it was sticking to the “string”. His phone beeped again. He checked the message:

_DiNozzo special---stringed and papered_

McGee slipped behind his desk to hide his laughter. He didn’t have to worry about the laughter too much since the bullpen was echoingwith it. Once his laughter was under control he sat up to see the unfortunate woman walking towards the head with as much dignity as she could; it didn’t help since she was leaving a trail of paper in her wake. He really didn’t feel sorry for her becauseshe’d brought everything that happened on herself.

There were a few comments from the peanut gallery:

“Are you Hanselor Gretel?”  
“You’re supposed to be leaving a trail of bread crumbs not paper!”  
“Who’d you piss off other than DiNozzo?”

As the young man watched his teammate disappear one thing ran through his mind; _Note to self--- DiNozzo can prank you when he hasn’t been in the office!_

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Tony smiled maliciously as he texted McGee. He was looking forward to seeing the security footage of the bullpen. Once the message had been sent he turned to Gibbs and said, “Thanks for the help, Boss. David won’t know what hit her.”

The older man gave a half smile, “Not a problem, DiNozzo. It’s always entertaining when you take revenge on someone. If she tries to blame you I’ll just point out that you arrived only moments before she did. You wouldn’t have had time to set her up. Doubt she’d even think I’d help you.”

DiNozzo laughed. “I wasn’t sure you would either Jethro but I’m glad you did.”

Gibbs hit the emergency stop turning to face him. “I thought we’d covered this. I’ll always support you Tony. Besides you helped me get a little payback too. She tried to refuse to log in the evidence wanting to leave it for you. A good defense lawyer could jump all over that and get the case thrown out of court. She deserved what she got. Now let’s see if we can find out who killed our two Marines.” He hit the emergency stop.

“Gotcha, Boss.” It still amazed the young man that the reserved Marine cared about him more than his own father did. He hoped he never let his mentor down.

xxxxxxx

Gibbs and DiNozzo entered autopsy. They were greeted by the sight of Ducky and Palmer working on one of the victims. The Lead Agent announced their arrival by asking, “What do ya’ got for us Duck?”

The ME glanced up and greeted the two men. “Ah, Jethro and Anthony, I have not finished both autopsies but I realize you must be anxious to help these two unfortunate young men.” The Scot stopped what he was doing to face the two agents. “Both men were shot with what appears to be the same caliber weapon but I cannot be sure because there were no bullets or fragments in the wounds. Not surprising since there were exit wounds on both men. The bullet wounds were not what killed them though. They were beaten to death with different items.”

The Marine turned to his Second interrupting Ducky to ask, “You didn’t find any bullets or casings,DiNozzo?”

“No, Boss. Based on what McGee and I found, the victims were dumped where we found them.”

“I have to agree with Anthony; they were not killed where they were found. Between the gunshot wounds and being beaten to death there should have been a great deal of blood around the bodies but there was none. We also found them on their stomachs and the livor* mortis shows they were lying on their sides for some time before they were placed at the scene. I estimate that they have been dead for 30 hours but were only at the sight for an hour or so.”

Gibbs and DiNozzo followed closely when the ME moved to stand by the first body.

“Sergeant Peters here seems to have been beaten with some kind of long round object. I am not sure if it was one object or two.” Duckyindicated bruising on his torso which had a long pole like appearance but right above that was a darker round bruise. “I have never seen a bruising pattern like this, Jethro. There were some splinters in one of the round bruises which I’ve already sent to Abigail to be analyzed.”

“Hey Ducky, are there other bruises on his back as defined as this one? And do you think you could identify the weapon if we find it?” DiNozzo asked

The Elder man looked at the dark haired agentand nodded. “Yes. There are two on his back. I have no doubt that I could identify the weapon of choice based on the bruising.”

“What about Harris, Duck?” Gibbs asked.

The ME moved over to the other victim before  “Sergeant Harris was shot more than once and he appears to have been beaten with something round with a pattern, but much shorter than the one used on Sergeant Peters.” He waved the two agents over pointing to one of the bruises. “You can clearly see the pattern at this end; the definition is remarkable. Unfortunately this area in the center is not as defined. In spite of that, I do believe I should be able to match a weapon because the end of the bruise is so defined.”

“Thanks, Duck. Let me or DiNozzo know if you find anything else.” The Senior Agent said as the two men headed out of Autopsy and entered the elevator together.

The Senior Field Agent asked, “Are you going to tell Abby that Ziva’ll be off the team soon or are you gonna wait?”

Gibbssighed, “I’ll wait. Abby won’t be able to keep it to herself.” He watched the younger man nod out of the corner of his eye. The two men made the usual detour to get coffee and Abby a CafPow.

They looked at each other when they reached the lab. It was quiet, no loud music. It was never good when she wasn’t playing loud music. The men straightened up and entered the lab.

Abby ambushed Tony as soon as the men entered. “How could you do that to Ziva? That was way beyond a prank, that was cruel. She had to go to the gym showers looking like…I don’t know what. I can’t believe you’d think that was funny! She’s right, you’re just plain childish!”

Gibbs interrupts Abby angrily, “Abby! What are you talking about?”

The Goth turned around and played the security tape from the bullpen. “This is what I’m talking about.”

Gibbs had to work hard at not laughing or even smiling as he watched the results of DiNozzo’s payback. He looked at his friend out of the corner of his eye to see a shocked look on his face. Damn the man was good.

He refocused on the irate woman noting the glare she was directing at Tony. This needed to stop. “Tell me Abs, when was DiNozzo supposed to set up the prank? He arrived shortly before David and then went out on a call. You tell me how he did it! He spent the night at my place last night; he cooked some dinner and changed my bandages. So how did he do it?”

Abby gaped at him in confusion. “But…but Tony’s done something big like that before.”

“You’re right he did. He’s not a cruel person, but he has been known to take revenge when really pissed. Do you remember _why_ he did it before?”

“Blackadder ruined an important op because of personal issues and you got hurt,” the Goth answered with obvious reluctance.

The older man nodded. “DiNozzo was pissed that I got hurt thanks to her screw up.”

“Well then Tony got someone to do it for him if he wasn’t here.” The young woman responded with a touch of defiance in her face.

Gibbs tipped his head to the side. “Maybe he did. If that’s the case you need to ask _why_ someone would help him do that to Ziva.” He pointed at the screen.

“Tony’s jealous because she’s better than he is.”

Tony’s phone rang, “DiNozzo….Okay, I’ll be right up Probie.” He turned to Gibbs, purposefullyignoring Abby, “The insurance paperwork and weapon permits arrived. McGee’s still working on tracing the emails so I’ll head back and start looking for what’s missing from the victims’ places.”

The Marine watched his Tony leave the lab than turned to glare at Abby still holding her CafPow which he tossed in the trash. She shrunk back some.

“DiNozzo has no reason to be jealous of Officer David. First, he’s my Senior Field Agent because he’s one of the best. Second, Officer David can’t see anyone’s value because she can’t see past her own inflated ego. Third, even if she was an agent, DiNozzo would still be better than her. If DiNozzo was behind the prank, he had a valid reason. David decided that it was okay to defy his orders to bring the truck back and log in the evidence because he gave it. She felt that she should be left in charge of this morning’s crime scene while DiNozzo logged in evidence.”

“Why couldn’t she stay and Tony log evidence? He’s done it before,” Abby pointed out.

He was sorely tempted to head slap the young woman in front of him. “It doesn’t matter what he’s done in the past. DiNozzo is in charge when I’m not there and gave her an order, which she tried to defy. What do you think would happen to her if she tried that with a Mossad officer?”

She wouldn’t look at him or answer him.

“At the very least she’d get her ass handed to her by the superior officer, at most she’d face a tribunal and time in the brig.” He studied the young woman for a moment still seeing some defiance. Another tact is needed, “I thought DiNozzo was your friend.”

She responded indignantly, “He’s one of my best friends.”

“Then why are you attacking him and defending her without getting all the facts?”

The Goth looked down again losing some of the defiance and was clearly troubled by his question. “I…I don’t know.”

“You need to figure it out and decide who’s more important to you.” He had had enough of Abby’s petulant behavior; there was a case to be solved and Gibbs needed to know if Abby had discovered anything useful. “Do you have anything for me on the case?”

Abby took a deep breath before heading to her computer. “Not much, Gibbs. I didn’t find any foreign DNA on the clothing. The splinters that Ducky gave me are European Black Pine. There were some faint traces of paint. It’s being analyzed but I’m not sure there’s enough of it to get an accurate break down.”

She typed some more and an image of the bruising found on Harris appeared and an image started to materialize over the bruise but wasn’t well defined. “There is not enough definition in the middle part of the bruise on Sergeant Harris for me to make a 3d model of the weapon. But if you find the weapon I should be able to match it base on the more defined end.”

Gibbs was studying the image on the screen when it clicked. He pointed at the image, “Compare this to rifle scopes.”

“Rifle scopes? I’ll get right on it,” she assured him as she began typing.

The team leader headed for the door knowing the search might take awhile and he had other things to do.

He halted at Abby’s tentative voice, “Gibbs…”

“You need to talk to DiNozzo _after_ you decide who’s more important to you. Your behavior towards DiNozzo since I went to Mexico makes me wonder if he’s really your friend or not.” The Marine left the lab, not giving her a chance to say more.

 

**TBC**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * livor is the correct spelling when talking about where a victim’s blood pooled on their body after death.  
> * Again, this is what I think NCIS procedure is and it works for my story.


	6. Investigation and Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just as the title says. The investigation continues and trouble is simmering under the surface. Or is it right in front of them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** I don’t own NCIS or the characters portrayed on television. The story is mine.
> 
>  **A/N:** I couldn’t do this so well without my wonderful beta ncismom!  
>  Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, are following and made my story a favorite. You guys rock. I do apologize for the long wait. Computer issues and real life can cause havoc with posting stories.

McGee heard the back elevator ding and looked up to see Tony headed straight for him at a fast clip. “McGee, Ziva’s gonna be pissed when she gets back from the gym. If it gets ugly call security and Gibbs. I didn’t set up the prank but I know who did. She won’t believe me anyway. Abby didn’t.”

Tim looked at his friend,realizing he spoke the truth. Who could have…no it couldn’t. He saw the smirk on the other man’s face and knew he was right. “He really did it?”

“Yep. Now where are those papers? How’s the email trace going?”

The younger agent pointed at DiNozzo’s desk. “It was definitely one person. He was smart enough to use an internet café and an anonymous computer. On the other hand he was stupid enough used the same café. I requested and received the security tapes from the times the emails were sent. I think I found the guy but want to view a few more tapes to be sure. Meanwhile I’ve started facial recognition software to see if I’m right.”

“Good job McGoogle. Uh oh. Call Gibbs. Trouble’s comin’ our way.”

He looked up to see an angry looking Ziva heading right for Tony and grabbed his phone and hit speed dial #1. “Boss, Ziva’s headed for Tony and she’s pissed.Got it.” He hung up and stood next to his friend. There was no way that Tim McGee was going to let Tonyface the Mossad Officer without back up. He noticed several other agents moving to do the same.

There was no more time for thought as the angry woman began yelling at the Senior Field Agent pointing a finger at him, “You juvenile, immature, disgusting, revolting… _thing_ that impersonates a man! You will not be able to walk when I am finished with you!”

“David! Stand down!” The agents who’d moved to help Tony parted to reveal an enraged Gibbs.

Tim was shocked when she stayed where she was deliberately disobeyed the team leader. “No. He is going to pay for humiliating a Mossad Officer. I am tired of you letting him get away with his juvenile behavior. It is time for him to learn to behave as an agent should!”

“Are you questioning my ability to lead or hand out discipline _Officer David_?” The Marine asked in his low and menacing voice.

The angry woman finally backed off a little but did not relent. “You did not see what he did to me! He humiliated me in front of everyone here. He needs to pay.”

xxxxx

Gibbs moved into her personal space wishing he could kick her off the team now. “I did see it. Abby showed us the security footage. Something like that would have taken time to set up. Tell me when did he have time to set up the prank? He came with me this morning, arriving shortly before you did. Not long after that, the three of you were sent to Quantico. _You_ came back before he did. Once he did return he was not left alone in the bullpen before the two of us went to see Ducky. So you tell me when he set it up.”

“He must have done it last night. No one else would do something so…so juvenile,” Ziva responded promptly.

The older man stepped back one step. “DiNozzo spent the night at my place. I needed someone to change my bandages and Ducky had to take care of his mother.”

He watched disbelief then confusion cross her face. “I do not understand. There is no one else here who would do such a thing.”

The Senior Agent shrugged his uninjured shoulder, “Maybe someone else in the office took offense to your reluctance to do a job that all agents in this room have done as part of their _duties_. That includes agents like _me_.” It was true after all; he’d had some help setting up the prank since his bum arm made it difficult to do quickly.

“You did that to me?”

“I didn’t say that, David. I said that I wasn’t the only one you pissed off with your attitude this morning. It’s never a good idea to piss off men or women who’ve worked with DiNozzo for any length of time. They’ve all learned to be creative. Now get back to work, we have a case to solve.” He waited until she went to her desk with obvious reluctance before heading to his. The remaining agents also headed back to their own work once the Mossad Officer sat down.

DiNozzo’s phone rang. “Very Special Agent DiNozzo speaking…Okay, I’ll be right down.” The younger man stood up, “Lunch has been delivered. I’ll be back in a few, Boss.”

The older man nodded before looking over at the Israeli woman and barked, “I said get back to work David! You need to clean up your area before reviewing suspect files. If that’s too much for you I can have you detail the truck and sedan instead. Maybe you’d like to be Ducky’s assistant for a few days and have to clean up autopsy instead of Palmer? Your choice.” The stubborn woman finally began cleaning up the mess grumbling in Hebrew. Satisfied for he began to look through the files on his desk, though he did keep an eye on her.

A little over an hour later, lunch had been consumed while the agents continued to work. Ziva was forced to order her own lunch separately, Tony hadn’t been joking when he’d informed her he wouldn’t do it.

Gibbs perusal of the file in front of him was interrupted by DiNozzo’s exclamation, “Boss! I got something.”

The Lead Agent looked up asking impatiently, “What is it, DiNozzo?”

“I think I know what killed Sergeant Peters and Harris.” The younger agent typed something on his keyboard and pictures appeared on the plasma. He then grabbed the remote as he moved to stand in front of the plasma to join McGee and the Senior Agent.

“I thought the bruising on Peters was familiar and now I know why. Peters had a collection of antique truncheons commonly known as police batons. See the one in the middle? It looks kinda like a mini mace. I think that’s what made that long than round bruise.” The Senior Field Agent clicked the remote and a picture of the mentioned bruise appeared next to the batons. “See how the rounded part of the bruise is deeper colored and separated? One of the captains I knew in Philly was an avid collector of all things police related. He had one of these and showed some of us how it would have been used. The separated ball would hit after the main part of the baton and would hit harder too.”

The Marine was impressed. “Where did these come from DiNozzo?”

The younger agent sighed, “They belonged to Peters. All of them, and all of them were missing when McGee and I searched his place.”

“What about Harris?”

Tony DiNozzo clicked the remote again and pictures of twelve rifles with or without scopes appeared. “I think one of the scopes did it. Harris has twelve rifles registered; four of them were M1 Garand, two M1903 Springfield, three Lee-Enfield, and three SAM-R rifles. We found eight rifles. The three SAM-Rs and one of the M1 Garands are among the missing rifles.” He clicked the remote and a picture of a standard scope and the bruising on Harris appeared. “You can see the impression of the sight adjustment from the scope at the top of this bruise and explains why the rest of the scope is less defined. It’s short.”

Gibbs was impressed as usual with his Second. “Good job, DiNozzo. That was my thought too. Grab a scope from our supplies and bring it to Ducky. See if he agrees with you. Have him go to Abby with your findings. I don’t want you to deal with her any more today. What about you McGee?”

The Junior Agent grabbed the remote when it was offered to him clicking a few times, “I’ve been able to review some of the security footage from the internet café that was used by our disgruntled email sender. I think I found the guy so I’m using facial recognition software to see if it’s the same guy. It could take a while though.” His computer beeped and he moved to see what was urgent. He clicked a couple of keys and a new picture appeared on the plasma. “Or it could be ready now. This guy was using a computer each time an email was sent. I’m sure if I check with the proprietor I can match the IP address I have to the computer he’s using.”

“Hey, I recognize him.” DiNozzo said as he headed to his desk and started rifling through the files he had. “McGee, put up a picture of Sergeant Major John Lambert.”

Lambert’s face appeared on the plasma screen and the three men compared the two faces.

“I think you’re right, DiNozzo. What did Lambert’s file say?” Gibbs asked.

The Senior Field Agent replied while flipping through the file, “Lambert washed out of TBS because he couldn’t handle the work. When Harris and Peters tried to help him, offering to work with him on his week points in marksmanship and hand to hand he told them they didn’t know what they were talking about.” He held up a note. “This was placed in his file by security. It says that Lambert claimed that he would prove that Harris and Peters that they weren’t as good as they claimed. Instead of just being kicked out of officer school, he was booted out of the Marines when he beat two MP’s unconscious.”

“Why wasn’t this reported to NCIS? He should have been prosecuted,” the Lead Agent asked angrily.

“I don’t know, Boss. I checked our files against the problem Marines and nothing popped up.” DiNozzo paused looking at the note closer before sitting at his computer and began typing. “Son of a bitch. There was a report made but Lambert’s name was misspelled with a p instead of a b and didn’t go anywhere.”

“Damn,” the Marine swore. “McGee, make sure the facial software agrees with us. DiNozzo, talk to some of Lambert’s classmates, see if they can give us a motive other than being kicked out of TBS after you check with Ducky. I’m going to see if Abby found anything on the paint found on Peter’s body.”

“Right away Boss!”

xxxxx

Ziva sat at her desk fuming since she was basically being ignored by the rest of the team. How did DiNozzo manage to fool Gibbs? Her anger turned to resolve. She would show all of them who the better agent was, completely ignoring the fact that she was not an agent.

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Meanwhile, Abby was staring at her monitors in dismay. Pink flowers, ballerinas, and bright pink polka dots kept popping up and then dancing across her monitors. She couldn’t find the program that was causing the disruption no matter how hard she tried. It was embarrassing and disturbing. Balboa laughed when he saw the flowers and asked what she did to piss off DiNozzo. But it couldn’t be Tony could it? He didn’t know enough about computers to pull something like this off without help. Or did he?

The Goth jumped when her speakers started playing _Virus Alert_ by Weird Al Yankovic. Horrified she grabbed the remote to turn off the music; all that did was start another song: _It’s a Small World_. Each time she hit the power button the song would change, the last song playing when she gave up and unplugged the machine was Barney’s _I Love You, You Love Me_.

The young woman grabbed Bert and headed into her office slumping into her chair. Why was Tony doing this to her? Everything was the way it was supposed to be, her family was all here. Gibbs was the leader, and Tony was his Second while Timmy and Ziva made up the rest of her family. Why did he have to mess everything up?

Gibbs voice made her jump. “It wasn’t DiNozzo who messed up, Abs.” She turned to see him staring at her with disappointment. “We did. You, McGee, Ziva, and I have been dumping on DiNozzo since I went to Mexico. He didn’t deserve any of the flack that he’s been getting from us. You have some growing up to do Abby. You weren’t the only one affected by my leaving and you never once asked how he was doing. How do you think the pictures of me everywhere made him feel? You even said to his face that ‘you’re not Gibbs’. Did that make you feel better? How would hearing that made him feel? But you never gave his feelings a thought did you? It was all about you and how you felt.”

Abby gaped at him. How could he say that? “But, Tony…”

xxxxxx

Gibbs interrupted the lab tech forcefully, “No buts, Abby. He did what _I_ trained him to do; he did his job and took care of the team because _I_ needed him to do it. Who took care of him? You even had the nerve to stick a tag on him saying, “In Training”. What right did you have to say he needed training? You didn’t want him to be himself, and he was ‘not Gibbs’. What the hell did you want him to do?”

The Goth broke in. “I wanted you! He didn’t stop you! He just let you walk away and didn’t even try and get you to come back!”

The older man sidelined her nonsense in a loud voice, just a notch below yelling. “ _No one_ could have stopped me from leaving! Or coming back before I was ready!” He stopped, taking a deep breath to cool down a little. He needed her to understand and yelling wouldn’t achieve anything, accept making him feel better.

“How dare you put that on, DiNozzo. I didn’t see you or hear from you before I left. I _did_ hear from DiNozzo. He helped me pack saying that he respected my need to get away and that he would take care of the team until I was ready to come back. Now I know why he never said anything to you or the others. All you did was give him grief and heartache not once taking his feelings into consideration. Did you forget his fears of being abandoned? I had until this week. I had amnesia. What’s your excuse?”

The Lead Agent watched various emotions cross the young woman’s face as he laid into her. She tried to maintain her indignation and anger but didn’t seem to be able to as he continued to point out the faults in her logic. Now she wouldn’t even look at him. Maybe he’d finally gotten through to her. But he needed to be sure that she not only got the message, but never forgot it again.

“Despite understanding why I left, DiNozzo went home every day feeling alone and abandoned by me and everyone else. I’ve already taken steps to make up for what I did. I’m lucky; he’s willing to forgive me. He can’t forgive you if you don’t acknowledge that you treated him badly.”

“He’s playing pranks on me! He’s never done that before! And you’re standing there lecturing _me_.” Abby actually stomped her foot. Maybe he hadn’t gotten through to her.

The older man glared at her, making her shrink back in her chair. “The pranks are DiNozzo’s form of retribution. Your behavior has been deplorable and you lack any sense of remorse. You have refused to admit that you are in the wrong. You’ve been acting selfish and childish so the pranks are childish. And before you complain any more, I knew what he planned for you. I let him down by not curbing your behavior before. Now I am.” More drastic measures were needed to break through her resistance. “There will be no Caff Pows for a month.”

 

**TBC**

 


	7. Consequences of Arrogance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The case is heating up and Ziva is still arrogant. What will happen?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** I don’t own NCIS or the characters portrayed on television. The story is mine.
> 
> **A/N:** Posting in record time! Thanks to my wonderful beta ncismom for her help and keeping me in line. LOL Hope you enjoy.

Tony discovered Lambert’s motive was revenge. He had been jailed and made bail, thanks to his mother. He found that his girlfriend kicked him out of their apartment and when he confronted her, she told him that she didn’t want anything to do with a failure. Lambert was forced to move back in with his mother. He most likely blamed Harris and Peters for his misfortune instead of his own ineptitude and sought vengeance against the two men. Some people were just not meant to be in charge of anything or anyone whether military or civilian and it seemed the idiot was one of these people.

While the team was waiting for the arrest warrant for Lambert, Tim looked up the address for Lambert’s mother. Tony recognized the neighborhood. Many of the homes were older Victorian style homes, some with land and big trees, multiple buildings connected to the main house which could provide more than one escape route. DiNozzo was not going to let this scum bucket get away. The unworthy former Marine _had_ assaulted two guards as well as being their main suspect in the death of Harris and Peters. He had asked Agent Balboa to lend an agent or two for additional back up for the arrest with Gibbs’ full approval. Balboa loaned out his probationary agent Barnes and junior agent Thompson. He’d told Gibbs that both agents were ready for a change in status and this would be a good opportunity for them to demonstrate their abilities, and he was happy to help out DiNozzo.

The Senior Field Agent’s memory of the neighborhood was spot on. The house was a big three story Victorian home. Added to the main building’s size was a single story stretch that attached the house to a large barn. There were several doors between the house and the barn, creating several points of exit from the house. He was glad he’d also requested help from the LEO’s. DiNozzo sent agents and LEOs to cover as many of the exits as possible.

xxxxxx

As the agents got into place, Ziva saw an open window and decided that she could get in and make the arrest herself, proving that she was the better agent. Tony was too cautious and timid. The Liaison Officer did not understand why he had insisted on bringing the extra agents. In Mossad, they would simply enter the home and surprise the enemy. Proper NCIS procedure was a concept that the arrogant woman felt was ridiculous and unnecessary so it would be ignored.

xxxxxx

In her zeal, Ziva knocked over a lamp, alerting Lambert that something was up. He looked out of an upstairs window seeing the NCIS cars. He grabbed a gun he kept in his room before running down the back stairs, into the barn and out an almost unseen door, allowing him to surprise McGee. The fleeing suspect took a couple of shots at McGee, hitting him in his vest and grazing his head as he fell. Despite being hit, the winded agent managed to take a shot at his assailant before the second bullet grazed his skull. Lambert grunted when the bullet grazed his arm before he took off towards the neighbor’s yard.

xxxxxx

DiNozzo heard the shots and ran in that direction followed by Agent Thompson. “Shots fired! Shots fired! Behind the house!” Tony yelled into his mike. As the two men rounded the side of the house, they saw the downed agent and the fleeing suspect. “Man down! Need a bus! Thompson, check McGee, I’m going after Lambert.” The two men split up. The junior agent was joined by his probie who worked with the LEOs to secure the scene properly.

“Stop! Federal Agent!” Tony called as he began his chase. He had wanted to check on his friend but he was responsible for the op. The Italian knew Thompson would take care of Tim. John Lambert was in shape but Anthony DiNozzo was determined to catch the man who had shot his friend, killed two marines and assaulted two others. The agent was able to tackle the suspect less than a block from the house, causing the gun to fly out of the man’s hand. Lambert still put up a fight. Tony was able to take him down using a combination of his own fighting style and some of the moves Gibbs had taught him over the years. A LEO, who’d followed him in chasing the suspect, helped him cuff the man once he was temporarily subdued.

The two men forced a struggling Lambert to his feet. “Looks like Harris made the right call with you, Lambert. My grandmother could have taken you down.”

The cuffed man struggled harder. “You were just lucky cop! I’m a Marine!”

“No, you’re a disgrace to the corp. You’re also under arrest for the assault of a Federal Officer, assault of two Marines, and suspicion of murder, oh, and resisting arrest.” By this time, the three men had arrived back at the scene and Tony wanted to check on his friend.

He waved Barnes over. Pushing his suspect towards him, Tony said, “Why don’t you read him his rights, Barnes? I need to check on McGee. Don’t forget to have a paramedic look at the idiot before taking him back to the Yard. Put him in a holding cell; Gibbs and I’ll interrogate him when we’re ready.” He could see an ambulance was already on site.

“No problem, DiNozzo.” Another agent who’d arrived when back up was requested, approached and helped Agent Barnes and the LEO with the still struggling Lambert.

Once DiNozzo had reached his fallen friend, he looked at Thompson for an update.

“McGee’s vest took the first shot, the second grazed his skull. Paramedics think he has a concussion, he’ll need a few stitches and his ribs are bruised, but he should be fine. They’re planning to take him to Bethesda to check on the head injury and apply the stitches,” the other agent related.

Ziva chose that moment to arrive.

Anthony had noticed that she came from inside the house instead of around it. It also occurred to him that she was nowhere to be seen when Tim was shot and he was left chasing the suspect with a LEO as back up. He turned to face her, enraged by her actions. “ _Where the hell were you_? McGee was shot and you’re just showing up _now_? Why weren’t you chasing Lambert with me? You should have been in front of me; you were on the same side of the house as McGee. Why were you in the house?” the Senior Agent demanded angrily.

Officer David tilted her chin defiantly. “A window was open. I entered the house so I could catch Lambert unaware.”

Tony could not honestly remember a time when he’d been so angry. “You’re telling me that you disobeyed a direct order, ignored procedure, and entered a suspect’s house without informing me or anyone else here? What happened when you entered through the window?”

She remained silent.

“I’m waiting, Officer David. You can answer me or you can tell Gibbs. You know what? You can return to NCIS right now and tell Gibbs how you disobeyed a direct order and that McGee was shot while you were playing hero. This was your last chance David. You’ll be off the team before the end of the day,” Anthony finished, disgusted with the liaison officer. He turned to Thompson. “I’m going to follow McGee to the hospital. Can you finish up here?”

“No problem Tony. Take good care of McGee.”

Tony nodded as he moved over to the stretcher holding his younger friend. “Hey Tim. I’ll see you at the hospital. Don’t forget to argue with the doctors. The MCRT has a reputation of being terrible patients to keep up.”

McGee rolled his eyes slightly mindful of his pounding headache. “I’ll leave that up to you and Gibbs.”

The older agent smiled. Tim would be okay if he could make a comeback while in pain. He turned to see Ziva watching him. He stalked over to her. “What are you still doing here? Do I have to have you escorted to the Navy Yard?”

Ziva straightened up responding defiantly, “I will return when I am ready to go. I do not take orders from you. Gibbs is the team leader not you.”

“And I’m his Second in Command, something you consistently overlook.” Tony responded as he pointed at two agents and waved them over. Once they were close enough he spoke directly to them ignoring Ziva. “Marsden, Donaldson. Take Officer David back to the Navy Yard. Agent Gibbs will be expecting you.”

“I will not be treated like a criminal. You have no right.”

“Despite what you think, I have every right! Your actions lead directly to McGee getting hurt. You can be charged with negligence at the very least, as worst you’ll be charged with dereliction of duty. I’m giving you a choice. Go back to Headquarters on your own or be escorted back by these agents. If you continue to argue, I _will_ have you handcuffed like a common criminal. You decide now or I will,” the infuriated man spat causing a passing agent to move around Tony cautiously.

xxxxxx

It finally dawned on Ziva that DiNozzo was deadly serious. She actually began to feel nervous. He exuded a controlled menace directed solely at her. The Mossad Officer replied grudgingly, trying to maintain some dignity. “I will return on my own. I will inform Gibbs about how you have treated me.”

“Be my guest, Ziva. Hope Gibbs has you transferred to Washington, lots of rain and cold. Better yet, Canada; they have very long winters. More than likely, you’ll be booted back to Israel. I’ve wasted enough time with you. I need to get to the hospital and check on McGee. Thanks Marsden, Donaldson.”

She watched him stride away pulling out his phone. She did not know how to feel about what just happened. Well, Gibbs would fix it. The Israeli glared defiantly at the two agents before heading for the car her and McGee had taken to the scene. It was time for the Team Lead to make a choice, her or Tony. She was confident that she would be the one staying on the team, despite what was said in their meeting two weeks ago.

xxxxxx

Tony pulled his phone from its clip, flipping it open, he hit speed dial #1.

_“Yeah, Gibbs.”_

“Hey, Boss. We have Lambert. He’s on his way to the Navy Yard and a holding cell,” the young man sighed.

_“What’s wrong, DiNozzo? Was someone hurt?”_

The Senior Field Agent scrubbed a hand over his face before opening his car door. “McGee was hit in the vest and a second bullet grazed his skull. EMT’s said he should be fine. Probably has a concussion and needs some stitches. Nothing serious.”

_“Tell me what happened.”_

After putting the phone on speaker he turned on his car and headed for the hospital while filling Gibbs in on what happened.   “Boss, I think Ziva had something to do with Lambert running, but she wouldn’t tell me. So I sent her back to the Navy Yard so she can tell you instead.”

_“I’ll talk to her,” the Lead Agent vowed, sounding really pissed._

“Boss, she was going to refuse to go. She said I couldn’t tell her what to do. ‘I am not in charge.’ I had to threaten to have her escorted back in handcuffs.”

_“I’ll take care of it.” Gibbs snapped the phone shut._

xxxxxx

Gibbs stood up. He needed to talk to Jenny and tell her that Ziva was off his team. He didn’t care anymore about the four man team. He refused to keep Ziva on his team just to suit the brass, not when her idiocy caused one of his people to be hurt. Before he left his desk, his phone rang. He flipped it open. “Yeah, Gibbs.”

_“This is Agent Thompson. Agent Barnes just told me he witnessed David enter the window and heard something crash. I think that must have alerted Lambert that we were here.”_

The Marine’s frown deepened. “Have the kid write up a statement about what he saw when he gets back. I’m gonna kick her ass back to Israel!”

_“Have to get back to processing the scene.”_

He grunted an acknowledgement before throwing the phone between Tim and Tony’s desks, smashing it into several pieces. He was gonna need time in the gym later, after getting a new phone. Damn, he couldn’t do that because of his arm. He hoped that a boat, basement and bourbon would do it tonight. He finished his trek to the Director’s office, walking in unannounced.

 

**TBC**

 


	8. Arrogance vs Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ziva gets a reality check and so does Abby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** I don’t own NCIS or the characters portrayed on television. The story is mine.
> 
> **A/N:** A great big thank you to my wonderful Beta, ncismom. Another huge thank you to all who have read, commented, and bookmarked this story. You guys are awesome. There is a bit of an epilogue but it’s pretty much done.

Jenny looked up when her door was flung open, knowing it would be Gibbs; he was the only person to ever enter her office unannounced.  Seeing the look on his face told her she wasn’t going to like whatever he had to say. She knew that she might as well take the bull by the horns. “Jethro. What can I do for you?”

“David is off my team. I don’t care where she goes as long as she’s not here anymore. Better yet, I’ll send her back to Israel with my boot up her ass.”

“It’s not that easy. You have to have four people on your team. There’s no one…”

The angry Marine cut her off. “I _don’t_ _care_ what SecNav thinks or wants. David is responsible for Agent McGee being injured. She doesn’t want to acknowledge that DiNozzo is has always been her superior. I won’t have _anyone_ on my team that’s a danger to her own teammates, rules be damned!”

The Director floundered for a minute, not wanting to believe that Ziva would be so unprofessional. It was one thing to pass in slip-shodpaperwork; it was another to fail to follow the chain of command in the field. The woman she hadworked with in Europe had been efficient, professional and they worked well together. What had happened to the agent she remembered? Finally, she sighed asking, “What happened?”

Her former lover sat down heavily and told her about the conversations he’d had with DiNozzo and Thompson.

Shepard frowned as she listened. After her initial disbelief, she grew angry, especially after learning how McGee was injured.

Despite her anger, she groaned internally, Jenny Shepard realized she had even more to atone for than she’d originally believed. After the dressing down Gibbs had delivered regarding her poor leadership during the Marine’s time off, she had made more of an effort to pay attention to her job and put her vendetta aside.

The Director began by reading the cases that the MCRT had closed while Agent DiNozzo was in charge with a fine tooth comb. Jethro had been right; she had dropped the ball in a big way. Jenny had been so focused on the Frog that she had missed what was going on right under her nose. No more. She had dedicated herself to being a better Director and doing what she could to make it up to the agents of NCIS, particularly DiNozzo. She’d used him and hurt him all in the name of a personal vendetta. Her father would be ashamed of her behavior; she certainlywas.

Jen knew deep in her heart that her hopes of a second chance with Jethro were over. She’d hurt one of his people directly and indirectly. After all she was responsible for placing Ziva on his team _and_ allowing the Mossad Officer to get away with her piss poor behavior during the Lead Agent’s absence.

“I see,” she coolly stated. I truly thought she could be professional in the field or I would have bucked SecNav myself and removed her from the team yesterday. I have a place lined up for her but I’ll take your recommendation into account.

Last week I talked to Director David about the possibility of having to move his daughter to another team or department within NCIS. He is most disappointed in Ziva’s behavior. I doubt he’d have a problem if I decide to revoke her status as the Liaison Officer. Send what’s left of her to me when you’re done reaming her out. For now, I’ll suspend her for two weeks so that I’ll have all of the information from today’s operation to make an informed decision. On second thought, just tell her she’s suspended and I’ll make an appointment to see her when it’s over.” The Director pulled a folder out of her bottom left drawer as she was speaking.

Gibbs stood up. “I thought I made myself clear yesterday. I will choose any new team members Jenny. I won’t have anyone pushed on me after this.”

Jen Shepard sighed, knowing that the Marine wouldn’t back down. Perhaps he was right. “Very well, Jethro.”

She watched Gibbs leave; Jenny had to admit that after everything that had happened, she felt at least ten years older. What had Ziva been thinking? Her behavior would not have been tolerated in Mossad; what made the young woman think that it would be different at NCIS?  

xxxxx

Ziva arrived at the Navy Yard, still wondering what the fuss was about. She had seenan opportunity and had taken it, just as she had been trained. David decided that knocking over the lamp was due to neglecting her normal Mossad training routine since coming to the states. This was something that was easily rectified. That should satisfy Gibbs concerns, and maybe after seeing her train, he would see that she was more valuable than Tony.

She sneered as she thought of DiNozzo. The Mossad Officer did not understand how a Marine put up with the immature buffoon. Perhaps this episode would show the older man who should be kicked off his team. It certainly would not be her. Satisfied with her plan, Ziva entered the bullpen ready to get back to work.

xxxxx

Gibbs didn’t even try to get any paperwork done. He was just too angry. McGee could have been killed because Ziva ignored protocol and disobeyed orders. According to DiNozzo, she had no clue as to what she had done wrong, which, as far as he was concerned only made things worse. By the time the elevator dinged heralding the Mossad Officer’s arrival, he was infuriated.

He watched the Israeli walk into the bullpen, full of confidence and no trace of contrition. This only served to add fuel to his already enflamed temper. Standing, the Marine grabbed his coffee barking, “Secure your weapon. Conference Room One.” The silver haired man was doing all he could to contain his temper; NCIS was not the place to kill someone. There’d be too much paperwork.

xxxxx

Puzzled, Ziva watched Gibbs head to the conference room. He had barely looked at her, and the one look he had given was full of anger. She surmised that Tony had probably whined about how she had shown initiative while he had remained hidden behind the Marine and the idiotic rules of NCIS. Still, she would tell him what happened and the Lead Agent would understand. Tony handled the take down all wrong. He was too cautious and wasted time with dragging other agents to a simple arrest. If it had just been the three of them, she could have just picked the lock and entered the house quietly.

Once her weapon was secured, David entered the conference room ready to state her case. “Gibbs…”

“Sit! Don’t speak yet,” the older man barked angrily.

Ziva reeled a little. She had not expected him to be so angry. “I do…”

xxxxx

Gibbs stalked over to Officer David and leaned into her personal space. “ _Sit down_!” He glared at her until she complied. “What the _hell_ were you thinking when you ignored protocol and failed to follow DiNozzo’s orders?”

The woman shrugged, looking unconcerned by his anger. “I saw an opportunity and took it. Why should I have told Tony my plans? He would have just whined about following orders. I do regret that McGee was injured, but that was because Tony doesn’t know what he’s doing. I am sorry that I knocked over the lamp. I am out of practice entering buildings unnoticed; I have neglected my Mossad training in the last few months. I will spend time each week working on stealth. This will prevent any future issues.”

The older man stared at David, his fury at her condescending attitude towards Tony and her uncaring attitude towards McGee’s injuries rendered him momentarily speechless. Once he regained the ability to talk, he asked with equal amounts of rage and incredulousness, “Neglecting your training is your answer to disobeying orders?”

“Tony’s orders were inefficient and counterproductive. The arrest would have been much easier if he had just let me pick the lock on the front door and we could have surprised Lambert without having to involve other agents. Furthermore, the take down would have happened without injury that way. McGee’s injury was an unfortunate accident, but he will be fine.”

The Lead Agent couldn’t believe she was dismissing his junior agent’s injury as inconsequential or that she seemed to be ignorant of the real issues he had with her. He hadn’t thought he could get any angrier, but Ziva David had just proven him wrong.

Gibbs began pacing to regain control of his need to either shoot or beat the tar out of the arrogant woman. When he finally managed to speak, his voice that carried through the door and across the bullpen, verbalizing exactly what he thought. “You shouldn’t have entered the house at _all_! All I’ve heard from you is that you need to practice stealth. I haven’t heard _one_ word about how _you_ messed up. Only about how _DiNozzo_ didn’t do things right and that _you_ made a little mistake. Well that mistake was responsible for _your_ _teammate_ being injured. McGee could have been killed and you don’t seem to even _care_!”

He stopped to face her across the table, glaring coldly. Despite the anger radiation from him his voice, it could have frozen fire. “ _Your_ actions are the problem. DiNozzowas following NCIS procedure which is based on the _law_. Your idea that you could just enter the house and make the arrest almost meant that Lambert _walked free_! Instead of owning up to _your_ _error,_ you blame DiNozzo. Who made the arrest, you or DiNozzo? He had to clean up your screw up.” He stopped and took a deep breath. He was still furious.

It was time to finish this before he did something he wouldn’t regret. “Did you forget what would happen if you disobeyed DiNozzo again?”

Ziva David responded calmly, she seemed completely unfazed by his ire. “You were not serious about kicking me off the team. You only said that to make Tony feel better. He constantly needs reassurance from you to make him feel good about himself. I do not understand why you give in to him. He is just an immature child trying to act grown up.”

He slammed his hand on the table right in front of her. “ _Enough_! When have you known me to say something I don’t mean? NCIS like Mossad has a chain of command. You ignored it. _Again_! I won’t have someone on my team that can’t respect DiNozzo or me.”

The Liaison Officer interrupted indignantly. “I do respect you. How can you say that I do not?”

“You don’t respect _my_ choice of Senior Field Agent. When you disobey him you disobey me! You’re off the team, David. If I have my way, I’d kick you back to Israel using my own boot! Finish your report for this last case and clear out your desk. You’ve been suspended for two weeks because of your stunt today. Director Shepard will make an appointment to see you when the case is wrapped up. She’ll have your new assignment.” Gibbs turned to leave.

“I killed Ari to save you. You owe me your life.” Her voice stopped him.

The Lead Agent turned to see Ziva standing trying to hide her smug expression. His eyebrow climbed high at her audacity. “Think you’re the only member of my team who’s saved my life? I’m still grateful that you saved me. Doesn’t mean I’ll keep you on my team. Not when you’re a danger to the rest of my people. Nobody screws with my people.”

He started towards the door again pausing to say, “Did you forget that DiNozzo dived into a cold, dirty river to save Maddie Tyler and me? He risked getting extremely sick, even dying with his plague scarred lungs. He’s a great agent because he puts the needs of others above himself. You think too highly of yourself and your skills, believing they make you better than others. Maybe you think you should be my Senior Field Agent instead of DiNozzo.”

He could see that was exactly what she thought. It was time to slap that idea out of her head. “I would _never_ choose you to be my Senior Field Agent. First, you’re not even an agent and can’t become one. You’d need to be a US Citizen. Second, and more important, you’re an arrogant self-centered bitch who can’t see anyone else’s value other than your own.

“It was your attitude and actions could have gotten McGee killed and you still haven’t accepted responsibility, nor do you seem to care. This demonstrates that you’d never make it as an agent, forget becoming a Senior Field Agent! If I let you stay on the team _you_ _will_ get someone killed. I won’t risk another agent’s life because you can’t get over yourself.” He stared at her for a moment more, trying to convey his disgust and anger with her. Gibbs turned and walked out of the room, satisfied when she shivered and looked down at the table.

xxxxx

Ziva shuddered as she finally saw how Gibbs really felt about her. She had wanted to believe that he was just putting on an act to satisfy DiNozzo. What she saw in the Marine’s eyes convinced her that he was truly furious with her and what she’d done.

She discovered that her legs wouldn’t hold her any longer, forcing her to sit back down as she went over their conversation again. It became apparent that she, Ziva David, had been way off in her belief that the older man saw her as more valuable than DiNozzo. It hit her that he would always choose Tony over her and that hurt. Why hadn’t she seen it before? She was Mossad trained and had missed Tony DiNozzo’s value to the older man.

Recalling the final look on the Lead Agent’s face caused her to shiver again. For the first time in many years, the young woman feared for her life. Part of her wanted to go and give Tony a piece of her mind, but self-preservation won out. She got up and headed for her desk. She quietly packed up her things before finishing her paperwork. Officer David knew that she wouldn’t be back in this office.

Once the Israeli finished, she took her gun and badge and placed them in front of Gibbs. She was hurt further when the older man didn’t even acknowledge her presence. The young women turned and left the office with as much dignity as she could.

xxxxxx

Gibbs watched her leave out of the corner of his eye. Part of him felt relief, part of him was sad. Ziva had potential but it was wasted because of her arrogance. The Marine was glad she was gone, for the safety of his team.

The desk phone rang before his thoughts could get maudlin. “Yeah, Gibbs.”

_“Boss. I’m at the hospital with McGee. Did you break another cell phone?”_

“McGee okay?” The older man asked briskly, ignoring the question about his cell phone.

_“Yeah, Boss. He’ll be okay. He has a couple of bruised ribs and needed some stitches for the graze. Doc’s keeping him overnight because Tim has a moderate to severe concussion. He has some impressive bruising, too.”_

“Good. Does McGee need someone to keep an eye on him tomorrow?”

_“The Doc doesn’t think he’ll need anyone tomorrow all day, as long as someone checks on him a few times during the day. I already called Ducky who has volunteered to pick Tim up when he’s discharged and he will call you if there are any changes. Both Ducky and his doctor want McGee to take a couple of days off and then desk duty until he’s cleared by Ducky. I think Ducky knows everyone.” He can hear the smile in Tony’s voice. “I’ll be in after McGee is settled into a room so we can interrogate Lambert. Oh yeah, Duck said he would tell Abby about Tim.”_

_There was a slight pause before Tony asked, “So what happened with Ziva?”_

The Lead Agent replied, his voice laced with anger. He was still pissed. “She’s been suspended for two weeks pending the director’s decision. When I talked to her, she blamed you for her mistake.”

_“Do I need to help you hide a body, Boss?” the younger man half joked._

Gibbs snorted, as some of his anger began to dissipate. “No body, DiNozzo. Tell you more tonight if you insist. Now check on McGee and get back here ASAP.”

_“Sure thing, Boss. There’s a cell phone in the back of the top drawer of my filing cabinet, you should have a copy of the key. All you have to do is activate it. It already has all your contact numbers set up.”_

Gibbs smiled slightly. This was one of the many reasons DiNozzo was his Senior Field Agent--he anticipated. “Get us some lunch and me coffee on your way back. Thanks for the phone, DiNozzo.” He hung up, laughing quietly. The team leader knew his younger friend was squawking about not being a delivery boy.

 

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS

 

While Tony had been talking with Gibbs, McGee had been moved to a room. The Italian walked in with a smile. “How ya’ doin,’ McGee?”

Tim tiredly returned the grin. “Much better now that I’ve been given some general pain reliever and not just a local.”

The two men were interrupted by Abby who came clomping into his room as fast as she could while squealing, “ _Timmy!_ ” She reached the bed and pulled him into a huge bear hug.

McGee moaned when sheinadvertently squeezed his bruised ribs. “Ow, Abby let go!”

“But, Timmy! You were hurt and hugging will make you feel better!” the oblivious Goth exclaimed ignoring his groans.

DiNozzo reached out and grabbed the young woman, pulling her off his younger teammate as gently as he could, “You’re hurting him, Abby! He has bruised ribs.”

He didn’t get to say anything else because Abby spun around and poked him in his chest, exclaiming angrily, “I can’t believe you have the nerve to visit Timmy when you’re the reason he’s here!”

Shocked, Anthony stepped back asking incredulously, “What the _hell_ are you talking about Abby?”

The angry woman was now in his personal space again, waving her hand around as she continued her tirade. “Ziva called me and told me how you messed up the arrest, giving the suspect time to shoot at Timmy! Now get out!”

Anthony DiNozzo’s anger from the scene reemerged and he lost his temper. He slashed his right arm as he responded in his most dangerous voice. “Oh, the arrest was messed up but not by _me!_ Your best friend, Ziva, disobeyed orders, ignored procedure and decided _she_ could make the arrest all on her own. She entered the house through an open window planning on taking Lambert by surprise. Instead, she knocked over a lamp, alerting him to our presence. He managed to get out a small door behind McGee and fired two shots before taking off. _That’s_ how Tim was injured.”

The Senior Field Agent stepped back and took a deep breath. He was close to yelling and he didn’t want to do that in a hospital. It didn’t hurt that Abby was staring at him, looking shocked and maybe a bit appalled. “I wish I found it harder to believe that you’d take Ziva’s side over mine, especially after Gibbs told you about the problems she’s been causing, but I’m not. You’ve been a whiney little bitch since Gibbs tried retiring to Mexico, especially towards me. I was willing to give you a chance but you’ve just shot any friendship we had out of the water.”

He turned towards Tim getting ready to leave; he just couldn’t stay in the same room as Abby right now. “Hey, Tim, I gotta go. Gibbs wants to interrogate Lambert and is waiting on me. Ducky will be by later and I’ll stop by tomorrow and bring some dinner. That okay with you?”

The younger man stopped glaring at Abby long enough to answer, “No problem, Tony. I’ll see you tomorrow. Thanks for sticking around.”

“You’re welcome, McGee.” Tony spun on his heels and left the room before anyone could say more.

xxxxx

Tim watched his friend leave before turning to glare at Abby again. “Tony’s telling the truth, Abby. Ziva’s part of the reason I’m here. Lambert shot me, but he might not have gotten the chance if she’d just followed orders.”

“But Timmy….” Abby tried to interrupt.

He held up a hand, stopping her. “Not buts! Ziva has always looked down on Tony. I know I did too, but I learned my lesson and won’t take anyone at face value again. She hasn’t changed one bit and I’m sure Gibbs has kicked her off the team already. You should have asked Gibbs what happened before jumping on Tony like that, especially after he gave you hell about your attitude already.” McGee leaned back in his bed sighing before continuing, “You better go, Abby. I don’t want to see you right now after what you just did to Tony.”

The Lab Tech’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times before she managed to reply, “I’m not going to leave you alone in the hospital, Timmy.”

“I asked you to leave, Abby. Don’t make me call security and have you escorted out. I just don’t’ want to deal with you.”

Abby’s shoulders slumped as she turned and left the room.

The young man watched her leave, feeling sad and angry at the same time. Ziva really had a lot to answer for; the team would truly never be the same again.

 

**TBC**


	9. Conclusions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is what happens when you push Gibbs too far.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** I don’t own NCIS or the characters portrayed on television. The story is mine.
> 
>  **AN:** Here’s the last chapter. Thanks again to ncismom and her beta skills.

Gibbs looked up when DiNozzo entered their area, sensing waves of anger rolling off the younger man. He stood up and met his Senior Field Agent at his desk. “What’s wrong DiNozzo? I thought McGee was okay.”

Tony rubbed his hands down his face before responding. “Abby showed up at the hospital. Apparently Ziva called her and said that McGee’s injuries were my fault.” The younger man then relayed his encounter with the Goth. Finishing his story, a tiny smirk danced upon his lips. “You’d be proud of McGee, Boss. Despite being angry I didn’t want to leave Tim alone with Abby so I stood out of sight of both of them. He stood up for me with her and then told her to leave and didn’t back down when she tried to get her own way. I’ll have to do something nice for Probie. I think that’s the first time he’s ever stood up to her.”

“Damn that woman! I’m sorry I let Jenny get away with pushing her on my team!” theMarine angrily said.

The Italian shook his head, “Ziva killed her own brother to save you. It gave her a foot in the door with both of us. Yes, I’ve always known she killed Ari so I gave her the benefit of the doubt, and I _did_ think she had potential when she first joined the team if she could get over herself, she didn’t.”

The younger agent stood up, looking Gibbs in the eye, “We gave her a chance and she blew it, not us.”

The Marine looked deeply in his friend’s eyes to see conviction and affection. Okay, he could live with what happened if his son was okay. It was time to get back to work before they got too sappy. “You’re right. She’s done. Now we have a suspect to break.” He grabbed a folder and handed it to the other man before grabbing a couple more for himself. “Thompson and Barnes found the stolen items along with the murder weapons hidden in the barn and they still have blood on them. We don’t have the crime scene but we have enough. Let’s go.”

The two men headed for interrogation as Tony said, “On your six, Boss!”

When they reached the interrogation room, Gibbs reached for the door saying, “Observation room, DiNozzo.”

Taking his life in his hands, the Senior Field Agent stepped in front of him before he could enter the room. “No way am I letting you in there by yourself, Boss, not with a bum arm. Lambert has already killed two Marines and beat two others unconscious. He fought with me and only your training let me win. I’ll stand in the corner but I won’t let you in there alone.”

At first, Gibbs glared at DiNozzo for daring to say that he couldn’t handle Lambert. Unfortunately, as much as he hated to admit it, the younger man was right. He was also proud that his friend wasn’t afraid to stand up to him. “Well, what are you waiting for DiNozzo? Get outta the way so we can get this over with today.”

Tony moved out of the way then followed him into the room. He then moved so he was standing in the corner furthest from the door and facing the mirror.

The Lead Agent dropped the files he’d been carrying onto the table then sat down facing the suspect. Gibbs spread the files out and opened each one. Once he was ready, he carefully placed pictures of Gunnery Sergeants Harris and Peters in front of the suspect. He then placed pictures of the two Marines that Lambert had beaten next to the others.

“Do you recognize any of these men?” the agent asked calmly.

“Just Harris and Peters. They kicked me out of TBS for no good reason,”theman answered bitterly.

“Hmm.” Gibbs pulled a report from one of the files, looked at it than back up at the soon to be former marine. “According to this, you weren’t up to the work assigned to you. You passed in half-completed work, were belligerent and argumentative. Your aim was off and according to one witness, ‘his grandma could take you down’. Harris and Peters along with a couple of other instructors offered to help improve your performance but you refused.”

John Lambert stood up, shouting, “I’m a good Marine! _They_ didn’t like me and made sure I wouldn’t be able to pass!”

“ _Sit_ _down,_ Sergeant Lambert!” The former Gunny barked.

The man took his seat before DiNozzo reached him. Once the man was sitting again, the younger agent moved back to his corner.

Agent Gibbs glared angrily as he continued, “You hated them for keeping you from becoming an officer. Your girlfriend kicked you out when she found out. This made you so angry that you beat two Marines unconscious and knew that you’d be facing charges for assault. You couldn’t accept that you’re a washout so you killed the two men you perceived as being responsible for your failure.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t kill anybody,” the angry young man spat.

Gibbs tipped his head as a signal to his Second. He wanted some of that DiNozzo attitude to break the jerk.

Tony stepped forward speaking, for the first time, “Sure you do, Lampert.” The agent overemphasized the ‘p’ in the criminal’s name. “You’ve grown up blaming others your own inadequacies. You barely passed basic and shouldn’t have been recommended for TBS based on that reason alone. You tried to become an officer because you’ve always been ambitious.

“Unfortunately, you don’t have the aptitude to be more than a grunt. Maybe you’d have made a better squid. You just couldn’t hack the work so you washed out of officer school. No becoming an Officer and a Gentleman* for you! Your girlfriend realized that you’re just another loser, so she dumped you. I bet she started seeing an actual officer after dumping you. Your mother was _so_ disappointed in you that she harangued you because _you’re an absolute failure_.”

The lead agent watched the suspect as his Senior Field Agent did his thing. Lambert showed signs of increasing anger, and losing control.

Sure enough when the younger agent said “failure” the former Marine leapt out of his seat again and made a move to grab the younger Agent, yelling, “ _Yes_ I killed them! They _ruined_ my life! I’ll do the same to you!”

The two men reacted simultaneously. Gibbs grabbed the wrist closest to him and twisted down. Meanwhile, DiNozzo grabbed the other wrist and yanked it before twisting it. This pulled the larger man off-balance causing him to face plant into the table. Tony completed the twist bringing the left arm behind the combatant’s back and using his right hand to push the man further onto the table.

The door opened to reveal two guards who moved to help secure the suspect with a set of shackles. Once the man was restrained,he was taken to a holding cell to await transport to a jail cell where he would await trial. They had what they needed to convict John Lambert of murder.

Once the guards had left with their prisoner, the two agents started putting the files back together. Once they were done, theMarine handed his folder to the younger man and instructed, “Get started on the paperwork. I’ll be up after I have a little talk with Abby.”

Tony opened the door as he replied, “I’ll make a quick run and get us both some coffee first; you’ll need it after talking with her. Besides, it’s going to be a long afternoon.”

Gibbs snorted at the understatement. “Hey, DiNozzo,” he said, pausing until his Second turned to face him. “Good job with the case.”

Anthony smiled widely at the praise. “Thanks, Boss.” He turned back towards the bullpen while the older man headed for the lab.

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Gibbs reached the lab door and realized there was no music blasting from the room. It seemed that Abby already knew that she had messed up. Her realization came too little, too late; she made her bed and now she would have to lie in it.

He strode in to see an empty lab. She should still have tests running on the case that he and DiNozzo just closed. It was possible that her unauthorized trip to the hospital might have kept her from working on all of the tests. Moving into the lab, the older man found the Goth in her office, sitting in her chair holding Bert with tear tracks running down her face. Damn, he hated dealing with crying women. _Suck it up Marine; this needs to be done_. He probably should have reined her in before he lost his memories.

“Abby.”

She jumped up and rushed towards him, arms open, looking for a hug. “Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs!” The young woman was about to be disappointed.

He held up his good hand and stepped back, preventing the hug.

The lab tech stopped short and stared at him with her mouth open looking hurt, bewildered, and shocked. Recovering slightly she whined, “But Gibbs! I need a hug and you give the best hugs.”

He interrupted what was sure to be a long, rambling, petulant, rant, “Not gonna happen, Abby. Not after what you said to DiNozzo at the hospital. Ducky told you what happened during the takedown, and yet you listened to Ziva. Why would you listen to her when I _personally_ told you that Ziva was a problem? You behaved badly towards DiNozzo when I was in Mexico, and your attitude hasn’t changed. Have you talked to the Nuns about your behavior? I can’t believe that they would condone it.”

The Lead Agent paused to see if Abby had anything to say. When she remained silent, he continued. “You didn’t because you knew deep down that they would tell you that you had your head up your ass; not necessarily in those words, but the message would be the same.”

He took a deep breath, not wanting to lose control; he’d already wasted enough of his time trying to get the stubborn and obviously unrepentant woman, to recognize that she was wrong. Gibbs needed to finish what he had to say; he had paperwork waiting for him.

“This is how things will be from now on. There will be no more special treatment from me; no hugs, kisses on you cheek or Caf Pow deliveries. You’re an exceptional forensic scientist and I don’t want to lose you to another agency, but at the same time, your selfish and childish behavior has hurt a good man who is my son in all but blood. I won’t contribute to your behavior by spoiling you anymore.”

He held up his hand as her mouth open in protest, “You brought this on yourself Abby. Time to grow up and face the consequences of _your_ actions. Call me when you’ve got the final test results on the DNA from the murder weapons. We need it as confirmation of Lambert’s confession.” The Marine didn’t spare the Goth another moment as he spun on his heels and left her office and lab.

xxxxxx

Abby watched Gibbs leave her lab feeling disbelief, despair, and anger. It wasn’t fair. Tony was breaking up her family. It was horrible losing Kate and now she was going to lose Ziva. It didn’t occur to her that she was every bit responsible for breaking up the family. She would soon learn this the hard way starting with a proverbial kick in the pants.

That night, she finally talked to Sister Rosita and got a tongue lashing for her trouble. The nun was none too gentle when she disagreed with the Goth’s belief that DiNozzo was responsible for breaking up the team; Ziva was the one who behaved in a deplorable manner. She also pointed out that the Lab Tech pushed Gibbs, DiNozzo and McGee away with her refusal to see the truth.

In the weeks to come, Abby found that her stubbornness over Ziva had cost her dearly. Even after Sister Rosita figuratively slapped her upside the head for her idiocy, she had assumed that the others would forgive her and at least everything else would go back to normal, even if Ziva was not coming back to the team. The others may have forgiven her, but they didn’t forget and she found out the hard way what that meant.

Tony referred to her as Miss Sciuto and refused any and all overtures on her part to make amends. Tim also refused to treat her as anything other than a co-worker despite their history. Ducky treated her with polite formality, but his disappointment in her actions reflected in his eyes cut her every time she saw it.

The most difficult consequences to accept were when Gibbs kept to his word and stopped bringing her Caf-Pows and ceased treating her as his favorite. Abby Sciuto was introduced to the second B because she had refused to pull her head out of her own ass and see what was really going on around her. Her need to keep anything from changing, backfired on her in a spectacular manner, and now, everything was different. She was miserable and had finally acknowledged that she had no one to blame but herself. She just wished she’d listened to Gibbs when he first laid out the problems Ziva was causing.

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Two weeks later Ziva approached Jenny’s office, confident that her friend would overrule Gibbs and she would be back where she belonged. There _was_ the possibility that she would be placed her on another team, but she did not think that would really happen. In her mind, her skills were too valuable for NCIS to lose compared to Anthony DiNozzo’s. The MCRT needed her much more than him. David had even entertained the idea that Tony would be sent packing so she could stay. She had acknowledged that was unlikely in light of the Marine’s inexplicable defense of DiNozzo and his lackadaisical ways.

Cynthia barely greeted the Israeli before letting her know that the Director was waiting for her. _She must have fallen for the frat boy_ _charm_ thought Officer David with disdain. _There was no accounting for taste._

“Good morning, Jenny. I am here and ready to get back to work,” the younger woman relayed with confidence.

The Mossad officer was surprised when Shepard stared at her coldly. Did her friend not realize that the whole situation was DiNozzo’s fault?

Her thoughts were cut off by the older woman’s frosty voice.“ And why do you think you’ll be going back to work here?”

Ziva shrugged. “I have served the punishment given to me for a minor mistake. I feel it is time to put the issue of what happened at Lambert’s house to rest. I have returned to practicing stealth and other skills I learned in Mossad so that I will not make such a mistake again.”

The director’s voice grew arctic instead of warming up as David had believed would happen when she demonstrated her dedication to improvement. “I think that you are under the mistaken impression that your _little_ mistake should just be ignored. You still lack the understanding that you broke procedure, ignored orders, and that your _little_ mistake was responsible for the injury of a teammate. You are not welcome on the MCRT, with any other team in the DC office or anywhere in NCIS. No one wants to work with someone who ignores the chain of command.”

Shocked, Officer David stared at the other woman. She had valuable skills and was a better agent than DiNozzo any day. “I do not understand how you can take Tony’s side over mine. He is not worthy of being an agent.”

Her tirade was stopped when Director Shepard growled, “ _Enough_! Unlike _you_ , the other agents at NCIS know the requirements of being a Senior Field Agent for any team at this agency. Many also know Gibbs personally or by reputation and realize that it takes a remarkable person to stay with him for more than five years. Jethro Gibbs is _not_ known to put up with fools.”

The older woman held up a hand keeping the Israeli from interrupting. “I don’t want to hear any more of your excuses, Officer David. I am reassigning you to the Northwest Office. You will be working with their cold case unit. However before you go there, you are required to attend FLETC and complete their training for NCIS agents. If you fail to complete these courses or refuse the transfer, you will be going back to Israel and Mossad.”

 _No, this can’t be right_ _,_ thought Ziva. She managed to find her voice and interrupt the Director. “How can you assign me to cold cases? I am a field operative, not a desk rider*. My talents will be wasted. Since DiNozzo has whined until Gibbs gave in and has gotten me kicked off the team, why not place me on another team? I will be of much more use as an active agent.” David was sure that her friend was just trying to make Gibbs happy.

Jen’s voice stopped that train of thought. “You just don’t get it. _You’re the one_ responsible for your current predicament. Knowledge of your blatant disregard for a superior, protocol and attitude have reached _every_ office of NCIS. No agent wants to work with you because you _refuse_ _to_ _follow the chain of command_! The cold case unit was the only one I could convince to take you. Your only other option is to go back to Mossad.”

“I will not allow DiNozzo to humiliate me in such a way. I will go back to Mossad where my talents will be appreciated. If you will excuse me, I will make arrangements for myself to fly home and have my property shipped there.”

She stood getting ready to leave the office but paused at Shepard’s voice, “I don’t think that you’re going to find the warm welcome you expect. But I can see you’ve made up your mind. Good bye, Ziva.”

David did not believe that Jenny was right. Her father would gladly accept her back into Mossad. Now, it was time to give Tony DiNozzo a piece of her mind. Her hopes of heading down to the MCRT to tell him exactly what she thought were for naught. There was no one in Gibbs’ area of the bullpen. Perhaps this was for the best; she would not have to see the irritating clown ever again. She quickly and efficiently packed up her personal belongings and left the building with an escort since she didn’t have credentials anymore.

‘Three Days Later…’  Ziva David found herself back in Israel and discovered regrettably,- Director Shepard had been right. She did not receive a warm welcome from her father; instead, she faced his displeasure. She had tried reasoning with him to no avail. His answer to her excuses was to set a folder in front of her saying only, “Read it. Thoroughly.” It was a dossier on Anthony DiNozzo, Jr. What shocked Ziva the most was the information contained in it that she had not found when she helped Ari complete one for Tony.

After she had finished reading, her father voiced his dissatisfaction. “I am most disappointed in you, Ziva. You based your opinion of Special Agent DiNozzo on information given to you by Ari. Why did you continue to use it after learning how twisted he had become? You should have realized that any information that he had given you was unreliable. You have no one to blame for being sent home but yourself. You failed to live up to your Mossad training. I have arranged for you to spend some time working with our trainers to refresh your memory on following orders.”

The young woman found that her father was implacable and she had to basically go through her training again. Officer David found the contempt she faced from her former instructors to be humiliating. She went from being considered a crown jewel to fool’s gold. One of the instructors seemed to enjoy pointing out that his warnings about her arrogance during her initial training came to pass.

Ziva learned the hard way that there were others who were better than her and that she had truly failed her Mossad training but it was too late to make amends with Gibbs, Tony or even her father.

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Things at NCIS went on. Despite SecNav’s rules requiring a four person team, Gibbs decided to take his time finding a fourth member for the team. He wanted to give the three of them time to find the right person to complete the team, something he wished Jenny had allowed him to do after Kate was killed. It had taken him time to find DiNozzo, Kate, then Tim. Ziva was thrust on him and look how it turned out. He was not going to be rushed again.

As time went on, Gibbs and Tony’s relationship proved to be stronger than it ever had been. Outside of work, they continued to spend time together developing a strong familial relationship that would stand the rocky road ahead of them. Father and son were happy with how things worked out despite the turmoil needed to get where they ended up because it was worth it to them.

 

**The End**

* Referring to the movie “An Officer and a Gentleman” starring Richard Gere and Debra Winger.

* Ziva gets her idiom wrong but Jenny is not going to correct her.


End file.
